The Glee Project: Live Out Loud
by Shelby-Belby
Summary: Glee, A New Year, New Students. T for language.
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own Glee, the Glee Project, or any of the characters. This story is purely fiction._

* * *

><p>"Excuse me, ma'am?" Damian McGinty asked, resting his hands on the counter in the front office. "I'm Damian McGinty. I'm new here. I need my schedule."<p>

"You're the Irish transfer student. Hold on let me print it out. And I'll call someone down to show you around." The secretary said, typing some things into her computer. She talked slowly and loudly, like Damian didn't speak English. "How are you liking America so far?"

"It's…okay, ma'am." Damian didn't feel like telling her the truth. He missed Ireland greatly and wasn't too keen on America so far.

A page started printing and she picked up the phone. "Mr. Schue, could you send Rachel Berry down? The new student is here."

She handed Damian his schedule as a girl walked in.

"Hi, you must be Damian McGinty." She said, shaking his hand vigorously. "I've done a little research on you."

"That's kind a creepy." Damian muttered, taking his schedule from the secretary.

"You're the new exchange from Ireland, a beautiful place to golf." She said.

"I'm a transfer student, not exchange. And we do more then golf. Golfing is mostly in Scots." Damian said.

"You are a singing I heard. Listen, our club is in desperate need of singer, people to stand in the background and sway while I sing." Rachel said, walking out of the office.

Damian followed her, only so he knew where his classes were. The truth was, this chick was really annoying.

"…I shine brilliantly in center stage, performing solos. So I highly suggest you audition for Glee club. Singing Harmony is fun." She said, like she was talking to a three-year-old child who didn't understand English. "Swaying in background can be fun."

Damian opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get a word out Rachel was hit in the face with a red slushie by a girl in a red and white cheerleading uniform, some splashed onto Damian.

Rachel stopped walking, her mouth half open.

"Welcome back." The cheerleader laughed, before walking off, empty cup in hand.

Rachel turned around and walked into the girls' bathroom.

Damian looked down at his schedule. His shook red slushie off it and headed to his first class, Spanish. He walked in just as the bell rang.

* * *

><p>"Daddy, you promise I'll make friends." McKynleigh asked, running her finger over the corner of the principals' desk.<p>

"I promise, daughter." Mr. Figgins, her father, said. "You will be a social butterfly. The first bell is about to ring. Go to class."

"Thanks, Daddy." She said, standing up.

She grabbed her backpack and walked out of the office.

Heading down the hall to her first class, she got hit with a green and a blue slushie, soaking her books and through her white t-shirt.

"Dude, that's the principal's kid." One of the jocks with a cup said.

"Are you fucking serious? I thought she was just another freshman." The other one said.

McKynleigh wiped the cold liquid off her eyes and ran into the bathroom.

"Hey! There's no need to tell your dad about this! It was a totally accident!" one of the jocks called before they ran down the hall.

McKynleigh grabbed a handful of paper towels and wiped her face. She wanted to go tell her dad, but she wanted friends more. She knew that everyone was already walked on eggshells around her because she was the principal's daughter.

It took her fifteen minutes to get most of the slushie out of her hair and off her face. But her shirt was hopeless, stained blue and green, her bra showing through.

She walked to her Spanish class her books pressed to her chest so no one would see her pink plaid bra. She sat down at an empty table in the back of the room. Right as the bell rang, a tall boy walked in. He had red slushie on left arm and the sleeve of his gray pull over hoodie.

The only empty seat was next to McKynleigh. He walked down the isle and sat down beside her.

He looked over at her and smiled kindly. He looked down at her chest and smirked.

_I hate him._ McKynleigh thought, crossing her arms across her chest and turning towards the teacher.

"…Spanish 1-2." The teacher was saying. His name was written on the board. Mr. Schuester. "I hope you like the seat you're sitting in, it will be your seat all year."

Something dropped into McKynleigh's lap. She looked down. A gray hoodie was draped over her leg.

She looked over at the boy she was sitting next to her. He was sitting back in his seat, staring intently at Mr. Schue. He was wearing a light blue polo, no hoodie.

McKynleigh looked at him and pulled the hoodie over her head.

* * *

><p>The bell rang and the boy sitting next to her gathered his things and stood up. He was out of the room before she had her things together. She shoved her things into her backpack and ran after him. She grabbed her wrist and stopped him. He turned around and faced her.<p>

"Thank you." She said, letting go of his wrist.

"I just thought you could use a friend." He said.

"I'm McKynleigh." She said, holding out her hand.

"Damian." He said, shaking her hand.

"Why do you wanna be _my_ friend?" McKynleigh asked.

"You looked like you needed someone, and I'm guessing you're a freshman." He explained, putting his hands in his pockets.

"You don't know who I am?" she asked.

"Am I supposed to?" Damian asked.

"Most people do…" she said, scratching the back of her leg with the toe of her sneaker.

"I thought you were only a freshman?" Damian asked.

"I am." She said.

"I'm confused." Damian said, scratching the back of his neck.

The warning bell rang.

"I'll talk to you later." Damian said, turning and walking down the hall.

"I'll get you your hoodie back tomorrow!" she hollered.

Damian was too far away and couldn't hear her.


	2. Chapter 2

Puck walked down the hall like he owned the place. The Cheerio's checked him out, the jocks nodded at him, and everyone else refused to meet his gaze.

Puck ran the school.

He turned the corner and smacked into someone.

"What gives, man?" Puck barked. "Don't you watch where you're going?"

"What's up Puckerman?" a familiar voice asked.

Puck looked into the brown eyes of Bryce Ross-Johnson, his old cellmate in juvie.

"What are you doing here?" Puck asked continuing to walk down the hall.

"Parole. Moved in with my auntie. She lives not too far from the school. My mom thought it would be best for me to get away from all the, as she put it, temptations Cleveland offered me." Bryce explained, following Puck.

* * *

><p>Matheus walked down the hall, trying to find his Spanish class. Being only four foot nine, people were bumping into him and he was having a hard time trying to see around people to see the class room numbers.<p>

"Excuse me?" Matheus said to a girl at her locker. "Do you know where room two thirty one is?"

She didn't say anything, probably because she hadn't heard him. She shut her locker and headed down the hall, the way he had just came.

Matheus turned around and smacked into a jock. He fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry." He said, pushing himself up.

"You're gonna be." The jock said.

The warning bell rang.

"You're lucky." He said, dumping a blue slushie over his head and took off down the hall.

Matheus wiped the blue syrup off his glasses with his fingers. The cold, syrupy drink burned as it dripped into his eyes.

He felt someone put to hands on his shoulder and guide him into a bathroom. It smelt clean.

"This is the girls bathroom." He said, rubbing his eyes, trying to get them to stop hurting.

"I know." She said, taking his backpack from him.

She set it on the floor and pushed him against the sink. She leaned him over, turned the water on and rinsed the slushie out of his hair.

Once it was all out of his hair, the girl turned him around. She was wearing a red and white cheerleading outfit. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail and her bangs were slicked to the left.

She picked him up and set him on the sink. Matheus let her wipe his face with a wet paper towel and clean his glasses of. She gently slid his cleaned glasses back onto his face.

Matheus's heart melted when he looked into her blue eyes.

She smiled back at him and rubbed his black hair until it was damp.

"There you go. All clean." She said, throwing a mound of paper towels in the trash.

"Thank you." Matheus said.

"Anytime." She said, kissing his cheek.

She picked him upset him on the floor and handed him his backpack, which she had also cleaned up. She put her arm around him and led him out of the bathroom.

"I'm Brittany by the way." She said, once they were in the hall.

The hallway was empty except for them.

"Class has started…shit. We'll need to go to the office and get late notes." Brittany said.

She led him down the stairs and to the front office, her arm still around him.

Matheus was in a daze as Brittany talked to the secretary explaining what had happened.

"What's your name?" Brittany asked, looking down at Matheus.

"Uhm…Matheus Fernandes." He said, liking that she kept her arm around him.

The secretary handed them their notes and Brittany led Matheus out of the office.

"I'll see you around." Brittany smiled, walking down the hall, leaving Matheus standing like a statue in the middle of the hall.

She was halfway down the hall when he realized he still had no idea where his class was.

"Wait, Brittany." He called, running to catch up with her. "I don't know where my class it."

"What's your next class?" she asked, putting her arm around him.

"Spanish 3-4 with Mr.…Sch…" Matheus tried to sound out the weird name.

"Schuester." Brittany smiled. "He's also the glee club teacher."

Brittany led Matheus upstairs.

"Here you go, Matheus. Spanish class with Mr. Schue." Brittany said, stopping outside a door. "See you around."

"Bye Brittany." He swooned, leaning against the lockers.

He watcher he walked down the hallway. She walked on her toes and her hips swished back and forth as she walked.

Matheus's heart pounded hard against his ribcage and loud in his ears. He knew his cheeks were flushed redder then a tomato.

Once he calmed down and regained his composer he walked into the Spanish class.

"Well Matheus," Mr. Schue said, folding the note and dropping it on his desk. "Why don't you take a seat by Santana? Santana raise your hand."

A Latina girl in a cheerleading uniform raised her hand. Matheus sat down quietly beside her. He sat criss cross in his chair, hating that his feet dangled.

"You have something on your cheek." Santana whispered to him.

Matheus gave her a confused look.

Santana pulled a small mirror out of her backpack, wiped it on her chest and held it in front of Matheus. There it was, plain as day, a pink pair of lips were on his cheek.

"Who's been kissing on you?" Santana teased, putting her mirror away.

"A cheerleader named Brittany." Matheus said, trying to hide his blushing cheeks.

"I know Brittany. She's my bestie. Why was she kissing on you?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Someone dumped a slushie on me…she cleaned me up then kissed my cheek." Matheus said, looking down at his hands.

"That explains it. Brittany always means well, and she hates people getting slushied." Santana smiled.

"Does she clean everybody up?" Matheus asked.

"Never, it's usually Quinn…you must be something special shorty." Santana said.

Matheus couldn't hide his smile, thinking that he finally meant something to someone who wasn't his parents made his heart soar.


	3. Chapter 3

Samuel walked out of his fourth hour class, undyingly grateful that it was lunchtime. His high was wearing off and he really needed to roll any blunt.

He grabbed a paper bag from the top of his locker and slipped it into his book bag.

"I like your outfit." A cheerleader said, running her hand over his dreadlocks.

"…Thank you." Samuel said, looking down at his outfit.

Pink skinny jeans, pink sneakers, a white long sleeve shirt, purple suspenders hanging loose. What was so special about it?

Samuel wandered through the halls passing people by on their way to lunch and headed to the back of the school. Even though it was only the second day of school, and he was a freshman, he knew no one came outback.

He dropped his book bag on the asphalt and sat down beside it. He pulled out the paper bag and pulled the one blunt he had brought with him out of the bag. He fished his lighter out of his pocket and lit up.

Fifteen minutes later Samuel flicked the butt away and blew out a cloud of smoke. He sprayed himself with Ax body spray and drug into the bag of chips he brought with him.

* * *

><p>Marissa left the cafeteria after she finished eating and headed down to the art room. It was something she had always loved and been good at, art. She sat down at one of the long paint stained tables and pulled out her sketchbook and sketching pencil. She put the end of the pencil in her mouth, trying to figure out what to draw when the door swung open. It banged against the wall loudly.<p>

"Sorry." A boy with dreadlocks and pink jeans said, grabbing the door. "I was just…I don't know. I'll leave you be."

"No, no. Stay. It's okay." Marissa said, waving her pencil at the stool in the middle of the room. "Let me draw you."

The boy walked over and faced her on the stool.

"Turn away from me a little." Marissa instructed, pulling her hair back with a ribbon, like she always did before she started drawing.

The boy obeyed.

"Now look out one of the windows." She said.

The boy looked out the window. But he was sitting to formally.

"Sit like you normally would on a stool." She said, picking her pencil up again.

The boy slouched.

"Perfect. Don't move." She said, putting the pencil to the paper.

Every few minutes Marissa would look up. The boy sat there unmoving, a look of pure genius on his face, as if he was thinking really hard about his life.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, a few minutes later.

"Marissa von Bleicken." She said, pushing her bangs out of her face with the flick of her pencil. "No talking."

"I'm Samuel Larsen." He said, only moving his mouth.

"Nice to meet you Samuel. You make a very good model. No talking." Marissa said again.

"Thank you. Are you a freshman too?" he asked.

"No. I transferred from Dwight Academy. No talking."

"Dwight, huh? So you're a rich girl."

"Not anymore. No talking."

"What happened?" he sounded like he genuinely cared.

"My dad lost his job and couldn't afford it anymore. No talking." Marissa said again, not because she needed him quiet, because she didn't want to get into her past.

Samuel must have understood that, because he stopped talking, if only for a moment.

"If you're not a freshman, what grade are you?" he asked.

"I'm a sophomore." She said. "No talking."

"Why am I not aloud to talk?" Samuel asked.

"I'm working on your mouth and jaw, it'll mess me up." Marissa said.

The warning bell rang.

"I got most of it. Would you mind posing for me again tomorrow so I can finish?" she asked, putting her sketchbook away.

"Sure anytime." Samuel said, turning and facing her.

"Tomorrow, same time, same place." She smiled at him and ran off.

Samuel walked out of the classroom and watched Marissa scurry down the hall. His heart skipped a beat.

"Marissa, you are beautiful. Will you go out with me?" he asked as she turned the corner, out of his line of sight.

"What are you doing in my classroom, young man?" a teacher snapped.

"I was just looking for someone." Samuel said, walking down the hallway. "And I think I found her."


	4. New Girl

_Author's note. Okay, I'm sorry for doing this. But, I'm adding my own fictonal character to Glee Project: Live Out Loud. I have ideas, and these idea's don't fit into anybody really. You'll figure out what role she plays when you read it._

_New Character:_

_Rosie Wallice - 16 years old, Irish, born and raise in Ireland, moved to Lima about six years ago, lived in Cork (for those of you who care. And Damian lived in Derry, very far away from each other. They don't know each other), she still has a slight Irish accent, she had dark brown hair, pale skin, some freckles and bright blue eyes, and braces. Wears glasses like Cameron's. Plays piano. And that's all you get to know._

_Sorry for the random girl, but I hope you'll like her. Let me know what you think about her please and thank you._

_-Shelby_


	5. Chapter 4

"Cameron. You should join Glee Club." Brittany said as she sat down in her car.

"I haven't heard good things about." Cameron said, sliding into the passenger seat of the white VW bug. "I heard Rachel Berry's in it…and yesterday alone, I saw her get slushied three times."

"Baby brother, I've heard you sing…you're good. And all the girls love you." Brittany said, starting her car. "You are totes cute."

"Could you not drive like a total maniac today, Brit?" he asked, buckling his seat belt.

"No, we're already late." She said.

Cameron rolled his eyes and gripped his armrest. "But the guys all hate me."

"Not all the guys." Brittany floored it.

"You're right. Not all the guys hate me. Just the ones that could kill me." Cameron yelled.

"Cammie, you are my baby brother. I'm popular and friends with everyone. No one will slushie you." Brittany said.

Cameron slouched in his seat. He wanted to believe his sister; he wanted to see the good in people like she did. But he saw the ugly just as much. The Cheerios were nice to him because he was always with Brittany at football game or competitions. But he was a nerd. He was in all advanced classes, he dressed like a nerd, and he was quiet and shy. He knew he was popular with the Cheerios only because of Brittany, but he just wanted them to leave him alone. The football team and the other jocks have already been bulling him because of the Cheerios.

Brittany jerked her car into the parking spot.

"Brit, I hate your driving." Cameron said, waiting for his big sister to open the door for him.

Brittany smiled as she opened the door for him.

Cameron fell out of the car and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his stomach.

"Two years of your erratic driving and it still makes me wanna heave." Cameron said, standing up.

Brittany laughed and wrapped her arms around her little brother.

* * *

><p>Rosie slid her iPod back into her pocket and started jamming to a song by Weezer. Her eyes were half closed and she danced as she walked.<p>

She turned the corner and bumped into somebody, hard, knocking them both to the ground.

"Watch where you're going." The girl she knocked down sniped, standing up and brushing off her skirt like it got dirty.

"Sorry, it was an accident. Those happen you know." Rosie growled, pushing herself up.

"You better watch yourself." she said.

"Oh, I am so scared of you." Rosie rolled her eyes.

"You better be." She growled. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

"I wouldn't guess much." She said, looking the girl up and down.

She didn't look like she could barely life the purse that was on her shoulder.

The girl scoffed and marched off, the heels of her Stiletto's clanking as she walked.

Rosie rolled her eyes and walked into her English class

"Hey, Rosie." Marissa said, when Rosie sat down in the desk next to hers.

"Hey." She said, leaning back in her seat.

"You okay?" Marissa asked her best friend.

Rosie shrugged. "I walked into a thundering bitch on the way to class. Said I should be scared of her."

"Do you know her?" the ginger asked.

"No but her attitude almost made me flip my lid." Rosie said, her accent coming out.

"I've know you for three years and I still can't figure out what you say sometimes." Marissa laughed. "What does that mean?"

"Lost my temper." She explained dragging her pen around the front of her notebook.

"You're a gag." Marissa said.

* * *

><p>Lindsey scoffed and walked down the hall. That little girl who knocked her down should fear her.<p>

"Lindsey?" a familiar voice said from behind her. "Is that you?"

Lindsey spun around and came face to face with her old best friend, Rachel Berry. Oh how she had changed. She never was the best dresser, but she went from dressing like a three year old to dressing like a grandma.

"Rachel!" Lindsey exclaimed, trying her hardest to sound like she had missed her.

Rachel ran up and hugged her, almost knocking her down.

"It has been too long since I've seen you. What was Paris like?"

"Paris was beautiful. I'm sad that I had to leave it and my French boyfriend, Pierre." Lindsey said, walking to her next class.

* * *

><p>"Fag." A jock said, body-slamming Alex into the lockers.<p>

Alex groaned as he fell to the ground. He stayed there.

"Are you okay?" a boy with very high end close asked, kneeling in front of him.

Alex looked down the hall at the jock that had hit him.

"Don't worry about Karofsky. He's just a bully." The boy said, sitting down next to Alex. "I'm Kurt by the way."

"I'm Alex…my sister is Mercedes. She talks about you a lot." Alex said.

"I'll walk you to class." Kurt stood up and held out his hand to Alex.

Alex took his hand and stood up. Kurt walked Alex to his class and bid him goodbye.

* * *

><p>The lunch bell rang and Marissa bounded down to the art room. She pulled her sack lunch and her sketchbook out of her bag.<p>

She figured she could eat while she waited for Samuel to show up.

She pulled out a box of apple juice, a peanut butter and jam sandwich with the crust cut off, a bag of baby carrots and a four homemade oatmeal cookies. Her mom packed her lunch for her everyday and was always trying to get her to eat sugar like a normal kid.

She finished her lunch, except the cookies and threw her garbage away.

Marissa sighed, thinking that Samuel had forgotten about her. She opened her sketchbook to the previous page and started adding color to the crest of Dwight Academy.

"Marissa?" a voice asked, making her jump.

Marissa looked up and saw Samuel sitting on the stool in the middle of the room.

"How long have you been here?" she asked, putting her colored pencils away.

"About five minutes." He said, looking out the window.

Marissa smiled and flipped the page to the sketch of Samuel.

Fifteen minutes later Marissa was finished.

"I'm done." She said.

"Can I see it?" Samuel asked.

Marissa nodded.

Samuel slid over the table and stood really close to Marissa. He put his arms on either side of her and leaned on the table.

"You're really good Marissa." He said, looking at the drawing.

"Thank you." Marissa said, feeling uncomfortable, but in a good way.

* * *

><p>"Thank you, ma'am." Damian sighed and walked out of the office.<p>

He walked into the empty halls and slid down against his locker.

"Yari?" a girl with an Irish accent asked, standing in front of him.

Damian looked up at her confused.

"It means are you-"

"I know what it means." Damian said, surprised there was another Irish student at McKinley.

"So are you all right?" she asked, sitting down next to him.

Damian shrugged.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm not going to tell a total stranger my problems." Damian said.

"Okay…My name is Rosie Wallace. I am from Cork, Ireland. I came here 'most six years ago. I do miss Ireland. Ohio is too flat for my taste. I am sixteen years old. I live with my auntie. I play piano and I usually don't approach people like this. But you seemed like you needed someone." She explained, tucking her dark brown hair behind her ear. "There. Now I'm not a total stranger. Now you can tell me what's wrong…but first, what's your name?"  
>"I'm Damian McGinty." He said, his heart pounding a little harder then normal.<p>

"So, Damian McGinty. What's wrong?" she asked.

"Just a little home sick…" Damian said.

"What else?"

"This school doesn't have a golf team, or a soccer team, or a tennis team." Damian sighed, picking a hole in the thigh of his jeans.

"Don't you're gonna make it worse." Rosie said, swatting at his hand.

"That's what my mom says." Damian smiled.

Rosie pretended to look offended. "So, I'm your mother now?"

"No…" Damian said, trying to think of something cleaver to say. He could come up with a million things, but they were way to flirty.

"I play tennis at Dwight Academy. And my auntie's boyfriend takes me golfing. I haven't acted to play Soccer at Dwight yet, those are hard to get on…you could ask at Dalton. It's Dwight's brother school. It's just one two over." Rosie said. "They don't have many golf teams around here, so you'll just have to find someone to play with."

Damian nodded, wishing he had the nerve to ask her to play.

"I'll drive you over to Dalton after school today if you like?" she offered.

"That'd be cool." Damian smiled.

"I've been looking for you everywhere." McKynleigh said, walking down the hall.

"Hey, McKynleigh." Damian said. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to bringing you back your hoodie." She smiled holding out his hoodie.

Rosie stood up. "I'll see you around, Damian." She sighed, walking off.

McKynleigh held out the gray hoodie to Damian.

"Thanks." He said, watching Rosie walk away.


	6. Chapter 5

"Welcome to Dalton." Rosie said, parking her car in the parking lot.

"It's huge." Damian said, climbing out of the old Mustang.

"It's a boarding school." Rosie said, grabbing Damian's arm.

Damian jumped at her sudden touch, but didn't pull away. Her hand was warm and slightly sweaty. She led him around the school to the soccer field.  
>"Who are you?" a boy asked, walking over.<p>

"Hi, Blaine." Rosie said, letting go of Damian and hugging the boy. "Blaine, this is Damian. Damian, this is Blaine."

"Hi." Damian said shyly.

"What are you doing here?" Blaine asked.

Damian loves soccer. He wants to join the team. Where's coach? Rosie asked.

Another two boys walked over. The boys were in uniform. One had short black hair; one had ginger/blonde hair.

"Damian, this is Tyler Larsen, he's the team captain." Blaine said, gesturing at the boy with black hair. "This is Zack Mitchell. They both have little brother's who are freshman at McKinley."

"Why do you go here, yet they don't?" Damian asked.

"Scholarships." Zack said. "I also have a big sister who's there."

Damian nodded.

"So, you wanna join the team?" Tyler asked.

Damian nodded.

"Well coach is running late. Let's see what you got while you're here." He said.

"Okay." Damian said, jumping the fence.

Damian felt like he was home once his feet were on the grassy field.

"Can you play like that man?" Tyler asked, eyeing Damian.

He was in low hanging jeans, loosely tied skater shoes, a yellow t-shirt and a hoodie.

Damian nodded and dropped his hoodie over the fence.

"What do you play?" Tyler asked, stretching his arms behind his back.

"Wingback." Damian said, pulling his jeans up.

"Anderson, get in the goal. Mitchell with him. I'll guard. Let's see what Ireland's got." Tyler smirked, kicking the black and white ball to Damian.

"What are we supposed to do?" a boy with a shaved head asked.

"…Run laps." Tyler shrugged, pushing his hair out of his face.

* * *

><p>"What's going on here?" a voice asked.<p>

Damian slid tackled Tyler and the two fell to the ground. Blaine and Zack froze. The ball slid into the goal. The rest of the team kept running.

"Anderson, you're a better goalie then that. How could you let that ball get by?" the man demanded, marching over to the goal.

"I'm sorry, Coach Booth." Blaine said, picking the ball up.

Tyler stood up and pulled her jersey down.

"Nice tackle, kid. What's your name?" Coach Booth asked, holding his hand out to Damian.

"Damian McGinty." He said, standing up.

"He wants to join the team, Coach." Tyler said.

"How good is he?" Coach asked.

"He scored four goals on Anderson and Mitchell." Tyler said, wiping sweat off his face with the bottom of his jersey.

"How long were you playing?"

"About fifteen minutes." Damian panted.

"In jeans?"

Damian nodded and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Be here tomorrow. Same time. In soccer gear. We'll see how you do during a real practice." Coach said.

Damian nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"Now get off my field. Go home, shower up. Be ready for tomorrow."

Damian nodded and ran off the field. He grabbed his black zip up off the fence and headed back to Rosie's car. She was sitting in the driver seat playing a PSP.

"Done already?" she asked, putting her game away.

"Yeah. I gotta be back tomorrow. Can you give me another ride?" Damian asked.

Rosie nodded. "Where am I taking you?"

"Back to school. My mom is picking me up from there in an hour." He said.

"I can just take you home."

"It's cool."

"What are you gonna do at school?"

"Shower. Change into my gym gear…which if I was smart I would have brought with me."

Rosie nodded and turned on the radio.

"Thanks for the rise Rosie. I really appreciate it." Damian said, once they were at school.

"It's no biggie. I usually go there for tennis. But I have an orthodontist appointment in about twenty minutes. Getting my braces tightened."

"It gets better." Damian said.

"How would you know? Your teeth are perfect."

"Only because of two years of braces." Damian smiled, flashing his perfect teeth.

"Well…I gotta go and you smell like sweat. Go shower. I'll see you tomorrow." Rosie laughed, unlocking the door.

Damian laughed as he walked into the building. He ditched his backpack in his locker and grabbed his gym clothes. There were two other guys in the locker room. Damian grabbed a towel and ditched his clean clothes on the bench. He undressed quickly and stepped into a shower stall.

* * *

><p>Finn dried himself off and pulled on clean boxers.<p>

"Finn, you need a ride home?" Puck asked, standing in from of Finn.

"Naw, my mom is picking me up soon." Finn said as a boy walked into the locker room.

Finn pulled his jeans on when he heard someone singing. He buttoned his jeans and walked into the showers.

"_I am surrounded by, a million people I, still feel alone._" The boy in the shower sang.

"Dude, you got a good voice." Finn said.

The boy jumped spun around, his hands in front of himself. "You couldn't have waited till I was out of the shower?"

The boy had an Irish accent.

"Have you ever considered joining the glee club? We could really use you at competitions."

The boy started at him.

"Think about it. I'm Finn by the way."

"I'm Damian…" he said slowly.

"Try outs are tomorrow in the choir room. It's basically just a formality. You'll get in you have a great voice." Finn continued.

"Finn, can I ask you a serious question?" Damian asked.

"Anything."

"Are…please don't get offended by this. Are you gay?" the boy asked.

Finn's eyes grew wide.

"It's just, you approached me when I was in the shower and told me I had a good voice and to join the glee club…are you gay and coming on to me or what? And just so you know, I'm not gay."

"I'm not gay either. I'm seriously just saying, join glee club."

A phone started ringing. Damian turned off the water and grabbed a towel.

* * *

><p>"I'll be right out, Ma." Damian shut his phone and dried off quickly.<p>

He changed into his gym clothes, not caring that water was still dripping down his back from his hair, causing his shirt to stick to his back. He just wanted to get out of the locker room and away from Finn. Kid was a little pushy and creepy. Who approaches a guy when he's in the shower?

* * *

><p><em>Author's note.<em>

_The song Damian was singing in the showers was Home by Michael Buble._

_Have you figured out who Zack and Tyler's siblings are yet? Lol. What are you guys thinking of Rosie so far? Like her? Dislike her? Hate her? Please let me know what you think of Rosie._

_Thanks._

_-Shelby_


	7. Chapter 6

Matheus walked down the empty hall. Everyone was at lunch or outside. He didn't feel like easting, epically with the jocks on his lately. He sighed and sat down in front of his locker, by an open door.

He closed his eyes and listened to music coming from inside the room.

"I am Hannah and I will be singing Rolling in the Deep by Adele." A girl said from inside the room.

The music started playing and she started singing.

"She's not bad." Matheus muttered when she was finished.

The other people in the room clapped.

"Very good Hannah. Next we have Cameron. Brittany's little brother." The teacher said.

"Brittany, I really don't want to do this." A boy protested.

"You'll do fine." A familiar voice said. It was Brittany the girl who cleaned him up.

"Ugh…fine." The boy said. "I'm Cameron Mitchell. I'll be singing You're Song by Elton John."

"Cameron?" Matheus said. "He's in my math class."

Cameron started singing. His voice was soft but beautiful.

"Very good, Cameron. We have one more today. Ellis?" the teacher said. "The rest of you will audition after school."

"I'm Ellis Wylie and I will be singing I Want to Hold Your Hand by the Beatles." She said.

Her voice was child like but powerful.

"Very good, Ellis. The rest of you after school." the teacher said. "And rehearsals are every day after school, and free period."

The kids started filing out. Brittany tripped over Matheus and fell to the ground.

"Ouch." She said, pushing herself up.

"I'm sorry." Matheus said, butterflies taking over his stomach.

"Oh, hi Matheus." She said, sitting down next to him.

"Hi Brittany." He smiled; looking at his hands, hoping his cheeks weren't as red as they felt.

"You wanna catch some lunch?" she asked.

Matheus nodded. They stood up. Brittany put her arm around his shoulders as they walked to the lunchroom.

* * *

><p>"Hey Miki." Ellis said, sitting down next to her best friend.<p>

"Hey Ellie." McKynleigh replied, not looking up from the papers she was reading. "Where have you been?"

"Auditioning for the glee club." Ellis smiled.

"That's social suicide." McKynleigh said, finally looking up from her notebook. "I've seen what everyone does to the glee club."

"Miki…I am fifteen and I look like a nine year old. I am walking social suicide." Ellis said bluntly. "I got a slushie dumped my head yesterday by a cheerleader. I've heard about the glee club's bad reputation. I figured I might as well be doing something I like and get slushied for it, instead of just getting slushied for being me."

McKynleigh nodded, and held her papers down as a cold wind blew. She wished she had a hoodie to put on it was so cold. She wished she had Damian's hoodie.

"You should audition. It'll be fun. Come on. You're already a social outcast because you're the principal's daughter. Why not join glee club?" Ellis talked like she just came up with the best idea ever. "They don't care if you're tall, short, fat, skinny, can't dance, crippled, nerdy, popular. Miki, it's the perfect place for you. And you have an amazing singing voice. Not to mention you write your own songs."

Ellis snatched up McKynleigh's notebook and started rifling through the pages. "_Mind's Eye. More then a Girl. Light in the Dark. Can't Cover it Up. Invisible_." She listed off names as she passed them. "_My World. We Are Broken_. Miki, these are awesome. You are perfect for glee club. You sing, you dance, you write."

"I'm the principal's daughter." She said, taking a bite of her apple.

Ellis rolled her eyes and tossed the notebook at her friend. "Don't say no. Just come audition after school. You don't have to join. Just check it out."

McKynleigh stared at Ellis. "Ugh. Fine! I'll do it."

"Yay!" Ellis squealed hugging her best friend tightly. "This will be so awesome."

"Whatever get off me freak."

Ellis sat down on the stone bench and dug into her stack lunch of left over pizza and candy.

McKynleigh looked around the quad, surveying the different tables. It was true. Everything was separated. All the jocks sat together, with the cheerleaders with in their laps on at the table next to them. The band geeks were over by the garbage cans. Preps sat on the top of the steps. The burnouts sat in the corner smoking. The student government sat at a table along the wall talking about the school.

McKynleigh recognized a freshman sitting with the burnouts. She wasn't surprised. His name was Samuel and he always had the faintest smell of weed on him that he tried to cover up with a little too much Ax.

She looked up at the top of the steps, to see if she recognized any preps. She didn't see any, but she recognized Damian walking down the steps with a Latina girl with huge boobs.

Damian laughed and walked away from here.

"Damian, over here!" she heard herself calling.

Damian dropped his lunch tray on the stone table and sat down across from them. "I don't think I should be sitting with freshman. It might ruin my rep."

"What rep?" McKynleigh joked. "Of you aren't a varsity jock or a Cheerio, people don't care about you. Damian, this is Ellis. Ellis, Damian."

Damian nodded at her and poked at his lunch. A pile of brown mush, limp green beans and carrots, and a hard roll.

"Is that edible?" Ellis asked, staring at it.

"Look like haggis." Damian said.

"What's haggis?" McKynleigh asked.

"Illegal in the US."

"That's frightening…is it food?"

"Yeah. It's a sheep's pluck—er the heart, liver and lungs, mixed with some spices and cooked in it's belly…it's a Scots food…me da took me Scotland, had me try the shit…took ill for two days. Not a very pleasant memory." Damian said. "Anybody want to give this a try? See if they live?"

Ellis crinkled her nose and McKynleigh shook her head.

"Remind me to bring my lunch tomorrow." Damian said, pushing the tray away.

"Hey Damian." Ellis said.

Damian looked at her. She was holding out a slice of cold cheese pizza and a pack of Reese's peanut butter cups to him.

"Thank you, Ellis." Damian smiled.

* * *

><p>"Brittany, please? Can I just go over to my friends?" Cameron begged as his older sister dragged him over to the Cheerios table.<p>

"No, they love you." Brittany argued.

"Brittany. Please?" Cameron asked.

Brittany stopped pulling on his arm and looked at him. He was pouting slightly.

"I don't like seeing you sad. Smile." She said, tickling his stomach.

Cameron pushed her hands away, trying not to smile.

"Go eat with your friends."

Cameron smiled and walked over to the stone table where Ellis and McKynleigh sat with a tall boy Cameron didn't recognize.

"Hey." He said, sitting down. "What the hell is that?"

He was staring at the food on the boy's tray.

"We're not sure." The boy said. "I'm Damian."

"Cameron." He smiled at him.

Cameron dumped her lunch bag out on the table; a thermos of mac'n'cheese, three pouches of juice, a sleeve of crackers, a can of cheese, a box of animal crackers and an apple.

"What do Americans have against bringing a sandwich for lunch?" Damian laughed.

"I have four siblings, my mom cooks a lot and needs a way to get rid of the leftovers. So she packs them as lunches, cause she knows we wont eat them out of our own free will." Cameron smirked stealing the fork off Damian's tray.

"I like pizza." Ellis smiled.

"I have a sandwich. Standard turkey and cheese sandwich, bag of chips, can of pop, pear." McKynleigh said with a grimace.

"Don't act like you don't bring weird things to lunch." Ellis joked.

"You want me to bring Irish food tomorrow?" Damian asked.

"Yes." Cameron said before anyone else.

"Then I will." Damian said, finally starting in on the piece of pizza that sat on his notebook.

"That was a great audition for glee club, by the way Cameron." Ellis said.

"You joined too?" McKynleigh howled.

"Brittany made me. I couldn't say no. She would have cried. I don't like when she cries…it's not right. It's like kicking a puppy." Cameron said, hitting his head against the table.

"You don't need a concussion." Damian said, grabbing Cameron's head before he did it again. "What's up with this glee club anyway? A kid name Finn came up to me in the showers last night. Told me to join."

"You should!" Ellis yelled.

"Don't. It's not good for your rep. It's worse then student council or something. They are the laughing stock of the school." McKynleigh said. "Kids get slushied, it's not pretty."

"He has immunity though. He can't be slushied for three months. It's the only rule of slushing. You can't slushie foreign student for like three months." Cameron spoke up. "Brittany told me. You should join."

Damian bit his lip, obviously thinking. "When is it?"

"Yay!" Ellis screamed, clapping her hands. "After school."

"Can't. Soccer practice at Dalton in Westerville. That's over an hour away. I have to leave right after school." Damian said.

"Audition tomorrow during lunch then." Cameron begged.

"I don't know. I'll think about it." Damian stood up and walked away.

"Cam, what was that about?" Ellis asked. "You were all over him. Defending glee club, telling him that he won't get slushied. Practically begging him to join."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ellie." Cameron said, drinking his juice.

"I highly doubt that." Ellis said, nudging his leg under the table.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note. I have more ideas for this story. But I was wondering if you would mind if they weren't always at school. Would it be okay if they were like at houses, and outside of school, like jobs, ect.? Thanks for the feed back.<em>

_-Shelby_


	8. Chapter 7

Emily wandered the halls, trying to see if any of the boys in Lima were worth her time. She saw a few who had potential. She would snap a picture of them on her cell phone and ask her cousin, Santana about them later, to see if they were cool or lame.

She had come across a tall nerdy boy with glasses who was pretty cute, a boy with a black Mohawk, a well-built jock who shoved kids into lockers, and a tall boy with gelled hair and a green Ireland hoodie.

Emily stood at the top of the steps in the quad and pulled her jacket tighter around her. She looked at all the tables, trying to find Santana. She was sitting on one of the tables with the other Cheerio's.

She smiled and ran down the stairs as fast as her black UGG's would let her.

"Santana. I need your help." Emily said, standing in front of her.

"So, this is your little cousin from New York?" a blonde Cheerio asked.

"Yeah, Quinn this is the newest Cheerio." Santana boasted.

"She could work." Quinn nodded.

"What do you need?" Santana asked, finally acknowledging Emily.

"Well you said tell you if I found any guys I liked. I found four. I got their pictures. Will you check them out? See if they are good for me?" she asked, holding out her iPhone.

Santana took the phone and scrolled through the pictures. "Brit, isn't this your baby brother?"

Brittany leaned over and looked at the screen. "Yep, that's Cameron. He's a freshman."

"A freshman? Is that too young for me?" Emily asked, not sure what was aloud in Lima.

"If you wanna be like Madonna, no." Santana said, moving on to the next picture. "Puckerman. No."

"Why? I like him. He's cute."

"He's my ex. Exes are against the rules, you should know that cuz."

"Oh." Emily said, looking down at her boots.

"Karofsky. Leave him alone. He's a bully…Brit, who's this?"

Brittany leaned over and looked at the phone. "Probably a freshman. I saw him eating with Cameron and two of his friends the other day. But I don't know. School's only been in session a few weeks. I haven't gotten to know everybody yet." Brittany said, looking at the phone. "He's cute, I'll give him that. I'd say, if you feel like it. Go for it."

Emily smiled and took back her phone. Happy that she wouldn't be single for much longer. That was something Emily never liked, being single. She wasn't accustomed to being alone. She always had someone with her. But here in Lima, she didn't know anyone but Santana and Brittany, and they were always at Cheerio's or glee practice.

Emily looked around the quad and spotted her new boyfriend sitting alone on the steps reading a book. She smiled and walked over to him.

"Aw, look at that. Our little girl is growing up." Santana said, clutching Brittany's arm.

"It'll only be a matter of time before she's one of us." Brittany smiled back.

* * *

><p>Emily walked over, feeling for the first time approaching a guy, nervous. He was sitting on a step by himself, leaning against the wall. A hard cover book was resting against his bent knees. He was wearing dark jeans, black Converse, a red t-shirt, a gray zip up hoodie and a yellow beanie.<p>

"Hi." Emily said, standing on the step below him.

He glanced up and looked back down at his book. "Hey."

Emily's knees felt weak hearing his accent. "Where are you from?"

"Ireland." He said, still looking at his book.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Damian." He said, sounding slightly bored.

"Well, hey Damian. My names is Emily but you can call me whatever you like.." She sat down on the step next to him, her shoulder brushing against his.

"I think I'll stick with Emily." He said, finally closing his book.

"…So Damian. Are you a transfer or an exchange student?"

"Transfer."

"I bet you miss Ireland."

Damian nodded, putting his book into his bright blue backpack.

"I bet you miss your girlfriend."

"Don't have one." He said.

"Would you like one." She smiled at him.

"In due time, I'll think I'll find a girl." He said, smiling back.

"Have you met anyone at Lima that you like?"

"Don't really know many people here. But I'll find someone."

"Would you like to go out with me?"  
>"Emily, you seem like a cool girl. But I just met you, and I'm not looking for a relationship right now." He said, standing up. "I don't mean to hurt your feelings or anything when I say this, but you're not my type. I'll see you around."<p>

Emily stood up and walked back over to Santana.

* * *

><p>Damian walked away into the choir room. Cameron, Ellis, Finn, Rachel and a lot of other kids he didn't know were sitting in chairs facing the piano. McKynleigh was standing by the piano with a short boy next to her.<p>

"I see they convinced you too." Damian said to McKynleigh.

"I guess so." She smiled.

"Okay, now that everyone is here. Why don't we get started." The choir teacher, Mr. Schue said. "McKynleigh you first."

McKynleigh walked to the middle of the room. "Hey, I'm gonna be singing _So Small_ by Carrie Underwood."

The band started playing and she started singing a country song that Damian didn't recognize.

When she finished she bowed slightly and went to sit by Cameron as everyone clapped.

"Damian." Mr. Schue said.

* * *

><p>"There's your boy toy, Cam." Ellis whispered in Cameron's ear.<p>

"Stop it, Ellis." Cameron said, pushing her away.

"Afraid you're going to miss a word you're dreamy, potato farmer has to say." Ellis poked fun.

"Ellie, seriously. Stop." Cameron said, firmly.

"Okay. I'm sorry. It was just a joke." She said, sitting back in her chair.

"I'm Damian McGinty. I'll be singing Buachaill ón Éirne. It's an old Irish folk song." Damian explained.

"Do you know that song?" Mr. Schue asked the pianist and band.

They held up some sheet music.

"Okay, when you're ready."

The band started and Damian started singing in a foreign language. When he finished, he got a standing ovation. He smiled and sat down next to Cameron.

"That was very good, Damian. What language was that?"

"Gaelic." Damian said, his cheeks a little red.

"That was really cool. What were you saying?" Cameron asked.

"A rich boy from Cork, telling the story of how he's going to charm a girl. Tells her he may be rich but he isn't dumb. He can do what any bloke can do." Damian responded with a shrug. "In the end he does get a kiss from her though."

"I'm Matheus and I'll be singing _Rocketeer_ by Far East Movement." The short boy said.

"What's with Ellis?" Damian asked quietly as the song started. "She seems a little mad."

"She was making jokes at me so I snapped at her. I guess it upset her." Cameron said.

* * *

><p>"Very good everybody. Rehearsals are during free period and after school." Mr. Schue said right before the bell rang.<p>

Cameron walked out of the choir room with Ellis, Damian and McKynleigh.

"I wish I could make it to the after school practices, but I got soccer practice an hour after school. And that's how long it takes to get there. I'm sorry." Damian said.

"Just come to the free period practices. And you come back to the school anyway. Sometimes practice will be going on still. You can show up then." Cameron said.

Ellis stepped on the back of his shoe on purpose, trying to get him to stop practically begging.

Before Damian could respond, he was hit in the face with a green slushie.

"Santana!" Cameron and Brittany yelled.

"That'll teach you to mess with a girl's heart." Santana snapped before she marched off.

"Brittany, what was that all about?" Cameron asked his big sister.

"I don't know. Clean him up. I'll go talk to Santana." Brittany said, running down the hall.

Cameron pushed Damian into the boys' bathroom and handed him a handful of paper towels.

Damian wiped the green syrup off his face.

"You know them?" Damian asked as Ellis and McKynleigh walked into the bathroom.

"Brittany is my big sister and Santana is her best friend. Santana is a bitch but she knows the rules about slushies." Cameron said, leaning against the wall. "I wonder why she did it. She's not the type to just go up and slushie someone."

"Do you want me to tell my dad?" McKynleigh offered.

"This is the boys bathroom, you know?" Cameron said.

"We know." Ellis responded.

"What's you dad gonna do?" Damian asked.

"You don't know who her dad is, do you?" Ellis asked. "Her dad is the principal."

"So that's why you were surprised when I talked to you when you got slushied." Damian said, pulling his shirts off.

Cameron and McKynleigh started at his bare chest. Damian noticed McKynleigh staring.

"Years of soccer." He smiled, wiping the stickiness off his chest with a wet paper towel.

Damian had six-pack abs and strong arms. He pulled his long red Manchester United soccer jersey over his head.

"It's on your jeans too." McKynleigh nodded at a wet patch on the front of Damian's jeans.

"Fuck." Damian said, unfastening his belt.

He stepped out of his shoes and pulled his jeans off.

"Oh sweet Jesus." McKynleigh said, looking away.

Damian pulled on a pair of black soccer shorts and pulled his Converse back on.

"'M I good?" Damian asked, putting his dirty clothes into his backpack.

"Very good." Cameron said as the warning bell rang.

"I'll see y'all later." Damian said, running out of the bathroom. McKynleigh followed.

Ellis started to leave when she noticed Cameron wasn't moving.

"Cam. You okay?" she asked, smacking his arm.

"Yeah…" he said, shaking his head and snapping out of his trance.

"Is there something you want to talk about?" she asked, putting his hand on his arm.

"…Not right this moment." He said, taking off down the hall.

* * *

><p>Cameron slid into the passenger seat of Brittany's bug.<p>

"Santana told me why she slushied Damian." Brittany said, putting the key in the ignition.

"Turn the car on and let's go get Zack." Cameron said. "And why?"

"It's because her cousin Emily flirted with Damian and he wouldn't go out with here." She said.

Cameron nodded, making a note to tell Damian next time he saw him.

"Are you okay, Cammie?" she asked, putting her hand on his knee.

"Just thinking. A little confused." He said, pushing her hand away gently.

"About what?" she asked, finally starting the car.

"I think I like someone." Cameron said quietly.

Brittany squealed and hit the gas. "Who?"

"I don't wanna talk about it, okay?" Cameron asked, sliding down in his seat.

The rest of the ride to Dalton was quiet.

Zack was waiting outside the soccer field when Brittany pulled up.

"I'm driving home." Zack yelled, jumping up.

"Tyler, do you need a ride home?" Brittany asked, climbing out of her car.

"I, um. I'm not sure if I'm going home." He said, standing up.

"Then come over to our place and stay. You're always welcome." Cameron said, leaning out the car window.

Tyler nodded and stood up.

"Damian, right?" Brittany asked, walking over to the boy who sat in the grass.

He nodded, hugging his knees to his chest.

"I wanted to apologize for Santana. You hurt her cousin, Emily, by turning her down. Santana didn't like that. Don't be surprised if there are rumors going around about you on Monday." She said, sitting on the bench above him. "Are you waiting for a ride?"

"Yeah, my mom should be here in an hour or two. Once she gets off work." Damian said.

"Nope. That's too long to wait. We'll take you. You'll come over, have dinner. Borrow a pair of Zack's jeans so you don't freeze to death in those shorts. Let's go." She said, grabbing Damian's hand and pulled.

"Is that okay with your mom?" Damian asked, standing up and grabbing his bags.

"People are always over." Brittany said. "You're riding in back with Tyler and Cameron."

They put their bags in the trunk and piled into the car.

* * *

><p>"Ma! We're home!" Brittany yelled, walking into the house.<p>

Everyone followed.

"Hello everyone." A woman smiled walking into the front hall. She had an apron tied around her waist. Her hair was dirty blonde and her eyes were bright blue. "And who do we have here?"

She hugged her kids and Tyler and faced Damian.

"Mom this is Damian. He's a friend of mine from school." Cameron said.

"A team mate of mine." Zack yelled from the kitchen.

"Well, Damian. I am Eliza. And you always welcome here." She sad, hugging him. "Why are you still in your soccer clothes?"

"Santana slushied him and his clothes are sticky and stained." Brittany said, walking up the stairs.

"Cameron, see if you can find him something of Tyler's to wear." Eliza said, pushing Damian and Cameron towards the stairs.

Cameron walked up the carpeted stairs and down the hall to the last door on the left.

"This is Tyler's room…when he's here." Cameron said, digging through the dresser. He tossed a pair of green skinny jeans and a purple v-neck t-shirt.

"Seriously?" Damian asked, pulling his shirt off.

Cameron nodded and walked out of the bedroom. Damian changed and put his soccer clothes into his backpack. He walked downstairs, the house smelt like spaghetti and garlic. The smell alone made Damian' stomach growl.

He ditched his backpack in the front hall and walked into the living room. Tyler and Zack were wresting over the remote. Brittany was sharing the love seat with Santana. A boy in a wheelchair sat beside them. A boy with dreadlocks, who looked like Tyler, was lying on the couch watching TV. Cameron was sitting on the floor with a young girl, who looked like him in his lap.

"Hey Damian." Brittany smiled at him.

Santana growled.

Damian smiled at her and sat down next to Cameron.

"Damian, this is my little sister Emma." Cameron said, hugging the little girl in his lap. "That's Samuel, on the couch. He's Tyler's little brother. And the boy in the wheelchair is Artie. One of Brittany's friends."

"Kids! Dinner!" Eliza shouted from the living room.

Everyone got up and ran to the dining room. The table was huge and piled with food. A big dish of baked spaghetti sat in the middle of the table, a colorful bowl of salad, a basket of bread, a dish of corn, a dish of peas, and two pitchers of Kool-Aid surrounded the dish.

"Take your seats." A man at the head of the table smiled at everyone. His voice boomed.

Everyone sat down. Damian ended up between Cameron and Santana.

"I don't feel very safe." Damian whispered to Cameron, glancing at Santana who was eating salad only, talking with Brittany.

"We're in front of my parents, she won't do anything." Cameron whispered back.


	9. Chapter 8

Cameron rolled over in bed and stared out the window above his mattress. The sky was a dark blue, the sun just starting to rise.

He sat up in bed, his head grazing against the roof. He liked his attic bedroom but the only thing he wanted to change is the slanted walls on the sides of his room. He may have the biggest bedroom in the house, but he still cursed Mom for not letting him move into Zack's room. Mom insisted that he would want his bedroom, even though he was hardly home anymore.

He pushed his covers off and stood up, his bed was just a mattress on the floor. He rubbed his tired, burning eyes. He pulled on a pair of nylon sweats and a baggy white t-shirt and trudged downstairs.

The house was quiet. His dad had long since gone to work and everybody else was asleep. He laid down on the couch and flipped the TV on.

The only thing on was a movie about three gay boys in high school. Cameron changed the channel, not wanting to think about that. He put on a stupid kids show from when he was little about talking bananas

"Cameron? What is you up?" a small voice asked from behind him.

Cameron sat up and saw his six-year-old sister standing in the doorway of the living room. She was wearing a pair of baggy camouflage pajamas and holding a pink teddy bear. Her short light blonde hair was tangled and sticking up at odd angels.

"Emma, what are you doing up?" Cameron asked, walking over and picking her up.

"I heard you moving. I couldn't sleep." She said, hugging her bear to her chest.

Cameron laid back down on the couch with Emma lying on his chest.

"Why is you up?" Emma asked.

"Just thinking, little bit." He said, rubbing her back, trying to lull her back to sleep.

"Bout what?"

"It's nothing." He sighed.

"You always talk to me, Cammie. Talk now." She said, poking his chest.

"Okay. You wanna know? You really wanna know?" he asked, sitting her up on his stomach.

She nodded eagerly.

"You really, really, really wanna know?" he teased.

"Yes." She said loudly.

"I like someone."

"Who she?"

"What if I liked a boy?"

"But I thought girls like boys and boys like girls?"

"But what about Brittany and Santana?"

"They girls. And they like each other…so girls can like girls…and boys can like boys?"

"Yeah, what do you think about that?"

"Are Brittany and Santana happy?"

Cameron nodded.

"Are you and the boy like you like happy?"

Cameron thought for a moment. He bit his lip and nodded.

"Then it's great!" Emma yelled, her smiled bright as day.

Cameron smiled back for her, still thinking about if what he left about him was true, and why he was feeling this way.

* * *

><p>Cameron walked up to his bedroom and pulled out his cell phone.<p>

"What do you want?" Ellis groaned.

"I…want you to come over…we can…we can go in the hot tub?" Cameron suggested knowing Ellis loved their hot tub.

"I'll be over in a few…what do you need to talk about?" Ellis asked.

"I'll let you know when you get here." He hung up without saying goodbye.

He changed into his swimming trunks and pulled a hoodie on.

Ellis walked into his yard as he did. She was wearing a purple bikini with one of Cameron's hoodies and barefoot. They peeled off their hoodies and slid into the warm, bubbling water.

"I feel like human soup." Ellis laughed, settling into a seat.

Cameron tried to smiled but couldn't.

"Okay. Talk. What's going on in that nerdy brain of yours?" Ellis asked, nudging his leg with her foot.

"I think you're, Ellie." Cameron said quietly, moving closer to Ellis.

"About what? I say a lot of things." Ellis smirked.

"Elle…do you think…that it's possible…to be…gay for only one person?" Cameron asked then sunk under the water.

Ellis pulled Cameron up and looked at him.

"Cameron…is there something you want to tell me?" Ellis asked.

"Ellie, I like girls. I really like girls." Cameron smiled. "I've been with girls. But, then I see him and my heart starts racing. And when he talks to me, I'm so scared I'll start stuttering and make a fool out of myself."

"Cam, it's possible that you're bi…you know?"

"But to be bi, wouldn't I like guys? Like more guys then just him?"

"So you only like him?"

Cameron nodded, sinking in the water.

"Well…then I guess it's possible…I haven't heard of it…but I doubt it rare. You know?"

Cameron nodded, his cheeks flaming up.

"Here's a big question…do you think he is?"

Cameron shook his head, tears building in his eyes.

"No." Ellis said, hugging him. "No cry."

"I'm confused. I don't like this. It's weird and different." He said, resting his head on her shoulder.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note.<em>

_I know it's short, but I am having writers block a little bit. And please review on the chapters. I need to know that y'all are liking them and what you have to say about the ideas I have. I really don't care if the review is just a "this is awesome, please update soon." I just like to know that people are reading._

_Thanks._

_And I really want to know, what do you think of this chapter?_

_-Shelby_


	10. Chapter 9

"What? Who's calling me?" Samuel groaned into his cell phone.

He rolled off his bed and hit the floor with a thud.

"Samuel?" a familiar voice asked.

"Yeah." He groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"It's Marissa." She said.

"Hey, Marissa." Samuel jerked into a sitting position.

"I got your number from the secretary. I was wondering if you would pose for some more pictures?" she asked.

"Sure. But you already have a picture of me…" Samuel scratched his head. "Why do you need more?"

"Different angles, different backgrounds, different clothes, different expressions." Marissa listed. "Is that cool?"

"Totally." Samuel said. "Is there anything you need me to bring?"

"Just dress like yourself and bring a change of clothes. I'll pack some food and we'll meet at the park in say half an hour?" she asked.

"It's a date." Samuel said, then hung up.

Samuel showered and dressed in black skinny jeans, a white v-neck and a black vest. He stepped into his books, shoved a change of clothes into his backpack and headed to the park.

Marissa walked to the park a picnic basket in one hand, a blanket draped over her arm, and her purse with pencils and sketchpad in it, on her shoulder.

It was just around ten in the morning. People were jogging on the trails and some kids played on the playground, but other then that it was empty.

"Hey." Samuel said, from behind her.

Marissa jumped and turned around. "You scared me."

Samuel shrugged and took the basket from here.

"I know a perfect place. Follow me." Marissa said.

Five minutes later they were spreading the blanket in a clearing by a stream.

"You wanna eat now or wanna get to work?" Marissa asked, sitting on the blanket.

"I don't care." Samuel shrugged.

"I'll draw one. Then we can eat, and I'll draw again." Marissa said.

Samuel nodded. "Where you want me?"

"Be yourself. Where would Marissa find Samuel?" she asked, flipping to a clean page.

When she looked up Samuel was sitting on a low branch in a tree across the clearing.

"So, Marissa. Can you tell me a little more about yourself?" Samuel asked as Marissa started sketching.

"I'm sixteen. I was a pageant girl when I was little. I have over two dozen crowns from pageants I was in." Marissa said. "I am a sophomore. I like McKinley High, but I prefer Dwight Academy. What about yourself?"

"I am fifteen, a freshman. I got a big brother." Samuel said, trying to think of what he could tell her. "I play guitar. Sing some."

* * *

><p>"Do you want to go talk to him?" Ellis asked, pulling on her jeans. Her hair was still dripping down her back, still wet from the hot tub.<p>

"He's a year ahead of us in school." Cameron said, pulling a shirt over his head. "And I we don't even know if he is…or he would…or…never mind…I'll just let it go."

"Cam, I'm not gonna let it go. You're my best friend and I can tell it's hurting you." She said.

Cameron shrugged, not caring about if she let it go or not. Cameron had known Ellis since they were in kindergarten. She was always trying to help, and never liked seeing people she cared about hurt.

The pair walked downstairs and sat on the hood of Brittany's car.

"Wanna go somewhere?" Ellis asked.

"No." Cameron muttered.

"Good, let's go." She said, jumping off the car and grabbing his hand.

"Have I mentioned I hate you lately?" Cameron asked.

"I love you too, Cam." Ellis replied with a smile, knowing her friend wasn't serious.

Ellis released her death grip on Cameron's hand. Cameron followed in suit three paced behind Ellis.

The only bad thing about Ellis was she was a determined little girl. When she set her mind to something, she was going to do it no matter who got in her way.

They round the corner and were on a cul-de-sac.

"Where are we going?" Cameron demanded as Ellis marched up a driveway.

Cameron followed Ellis up the walk.

"Who lives here?" he asked as she walked in the front door. "Elle, I don't like this."

"Come on. He's probably still asleep." she said, from halfway through the house.

Cameron walked in the house and stood in the front hall. He heard movement upstairs and talking. He was afraid of who Ellis was assaulting.

Ellis came back down stairs pulling a boy in tow.

"What do you people want with me?" he groaned, running his fingers over his brown hair.

"Cameron, this is my cousin Kurt. Kurt this is my friend Cameron." Ellis smiled, bouncing slightly.

The boys nodded at each other. Cameron was shocked. Ellis never talked about her family, let alone introduced any of them.

"Why are we here?" Cameron asked again.

"Kurt's gay. Talk to him. Tell him your problem. Maybe he can find out of he's swings that way."

The three ventured into the kitchen where Cameron retold his story to Kurt, just as embarrassed and confused as when he told Ellis.

"Who's the boy?" Kurt asked, pouring a second cup of coffee.

Cameron looked down at his hands.

"Come on, out with it." He said adding three spoonfuls of sugar to the black liquid. "I'll never be able to talk to him for you if I don't know who it is."

Cameron took a deep breath, trying to summon the courage to say the name he never had to say with Ellis.

* * *

><p>"Cousin, wake up. You said you were going to take me to the mall today." Emily said, shaking Santana.<p>

"I will, Em. Chillax." Santana said, sitting up. "Let me get dressed. We'll call Brit and we'll go to the mall."

Emily smiled and walked down the hall to her room.

She looked around the familiar room. She had always had a room at her Aunt Angie's house. The room hadn't changed much since she last visited when she was ten. The only difference was she wasn't staying for the summer; she was staying for a year possible longer. Aunt Angie had given her two hundred dollars to spend on new things for her room to personalize it more.

Emily sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed, making a note to buy a new comforter. The Powerpuff Girls were so not her things anymore. She picked up a framed photo from her nightstand. The photo was close to five years old. She forgot it last time she stayed with her aunt.

It was a picture of her and her parents. They were staking at Rockefeller Center at Christmas when Emily was nine. She was in between her parents, holding their hands so she wouldn't fall. The picture was taken from the side of the rink by her grandma.

Emily put the picture face down on the wooden nightstand, now realizing that her childhood was filled with lies.

Her parents lied to her almost every day. They lied to each other. Her mom would leave late at night when she thought everyone was asleep, but Emily would hear her. The floor outside her bedroom creaked loudly and Emily was a very light sleeper, not a good habit when you live in New York City. Around age seven her mom put her on sleeping pills, telling her it was so she would sleep through the noise of the city better. While that was true, Emily now knew it was so her mother could sneak out more.

Emily never knew what her mom did when she snuck out. She had ideas that she hoped weren't true.

She wished she could go back to the time that picture was taken. Things at home were always so much easier around Christmas time. Daddy's mom would fly in and stay with them for a few weeks. She would sleep on Emily's bed while Emily slept on a cot next to Grandma. The house always smelt like something was cooking and Mommy and Daddy didn't fight as much.

She wished she could go back before she knew the truth about her parents and their lives, before she grew up and reality hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Emily! Brittany is here! Let's go!" Santana shouted up the stairs.

"Coming!" Emily shouted back.

She wiped the tears from her face, checked her make up in her mirror, shoved her feet into her boots and headed down stairs to face her the day.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note <em>

_LEASE READ! DON'T LEAVE YET! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE READ!_

_I would just like to mention a few things._

_One, please review more. I know the stories aren't that good, but you're reviews do mean a lot to me. They Keep me writing._

_Two, I am currently reading a story called _Glee Project: Live Out Loud!_ by an amazing author inkbender. She had the story posted first. I want to tell her, you and everyone I took an idea from her. Damian playing soccer at Dalton. I liked the idea and used it. She is aware of this, so don't go reporting me for stealing. Y'all should check out her story, it's way better then mind._

_Three, is there a three? Hmm...I would like y'all to check out my other stories too please. They are good too._

_Four, I guess this could be part of three, but I'm not a big fan of that number so...I work really hard on my stories, and I really awant people to check them out. I know the subjects I choose to write about (ie. Glee and Damian McGinty) aren't the biggest things out there, but it's what I like and what I hope some of you like. If you like Damian go check out _Desperado _and _The Runaways_. I like those stories, and I'm working hard on them. But I'm not getting reviews so I'm not updating as often._

_Five, I will be writing a few Harry Potter stories if any of you like Harry Potter. They'll be against the grain (ie Hermione and Ginny, Draco and Harry, Fred and George, not sex stories, love stories, with a plot) and I'll also be writing the next generation (ie their kids) I have a lot of ideas for those and the previous generation (ie the Maurdures). So if you like Harry Potter check them out when they are posted. I'll make a note in my Author babblings when they are posted._

_Six, if you have ideas that you want me to use don't be scared to tell me. Like if you want me to use other people more, if you want to see more Matheus or less Cameron or more of the orignal cast, just let me know. Same thing goes for my other stories, if you like my writing, and want me to write a story for Harry Potter, Hunger Games, the Clique novels, anything, let me know, and I'll try._

_Okay, I think I'll wrap this up. I've basically just been babbling the things I think are important that come into my head. It's five in the morning and I have a lot of thoughts right now. One of them being OMG, I'm starving. I need to catch some Z's._

_Night, or morning...Whatever._

_-Shelby_


	11. Chapter 10

"Finish the worksheet quietly amongst yourselves. We'll go over it in about twenty minute, when I finish grading yesterday's quiz." Mr. Schue said, sitting down behind his desk.

Cameron and Marissa spun around and plopped their worksheets down on McKynleigh and Damian's table.

"How soccer going, Damian?" Cameron asked.

"Pretty good. Messed up my knee yesterday at practice." Damian said, reaching down and tightening the brace on his knee.

"There's a game tonight isn't there?" Cameron asked.

Damian nodded, scribbling an answer on the page.

"Will you be able to play?" McKynleigh asked.

"Hopefully." He sighed.

"Let's hope you're not out for the whole season." A girl with long black hair said, sitting down on the edge of the table Damian.

She was wearing dark skinny jeans, tucked into knee high brown boots, and a long sleeve navy shirt.

"Knock on wood." McKynleigh said, rapping her knuckles on the tabletop.

"Can we help you Lindsey?" Marissa asked, writing an answer on her paper.

"My brother wanted me to check on Damian, just to make sure his knee didn't get any worse." Lindsey said, putting her hand on Damian's shoulder.

Damian's cheeks turned red and he looked down at his paper. "Who's your brother?"

"Blaine Anderson." She said, not moving her hand.

McKynleigh glared at Lindsey.

"If you need a ride to Dalton today, I'll be heading that way for the game." Lindsey smiled. Her fingers trailing down his chest.

"It's cool, I usual just get a ride from Rosie. She plays tennis at Dwight." Damian said shrinking back in his seat.

"She's home sick today." Marissa said, "She's in my third hour class. She went home sick yesterday."

"Looks like you need a ride." Lindsey said, batting her eyelashes.

Cameron sensed that Damian was uncomfortable and jumped in. "Well, we're going to the game too. Brittany can probably drop you off."

Damian nodded. Lindsey sighed, taking her hand off Damian's shoulder. McKynleigh smiled.

"Thanks for the offer, Lindsey." Damian said.

Lindsey nodded and walked away.

"Dude, she was flirting with you." Marissa teased.

Damian made a face.

"You just turned down one of the hottest girls in the school." Marissa said.

"He turned down Emily Vasquez, Santana's cousin, last Friday." Cameron said.

"Are you gay?" Marissa asked, staring at him.

Damian shook his head, confused and slightly embarrassed.

"I was kidding, it's just that she's Santana's cousin, and nobody in their right mind turns down Santana." Marissa said, feeling guilty for joking about his sexuality.

"But he didn't turn down Santana, Marissa. He turned down Emily. That's different." Cameron said.

"Yeah, Emily doesn't nearly have the same reputation as Santana." McKynleigh agreed.

"But she's still a Lopez."

"Vasquez. She's not a Lopez, she's a Vasquez." Cameron interrupted.

"Still, she's related to a Lopez, and not by marriage, by blood. Mrs. Lopez and Mrs. Vasquez are sisters. I've never met Mrs. Vasquez but Mrs. Lopez is just as smoking at Santana." Marissa continued.

"It doesn't matter if I turned down a Lopez or a Vasquez or a whoever. I'm not into her okay? Quit with this pointless argument. It doesn't matter who I like, because I need to focus on my studies. And I'll make a move on the girl I like soon enough okay?" Damian slammed his book shut, grabbed his backpack and walked out of the classroom.

"Damian!" Mr. Schue called out, jumping up and standing in the doorway.

Damian just kept walking.

* * *

><p>"Hey." Rosie said, tapping Damian's foot with the toe of her sneaker.<p>

Damian looked up from his _Superman_ comic book. "I thought you went home sick yesterday?"

"Food positing." Rosie groaned, putting a fist over her stomach. Her right wrist was wrapped in a white cast.

"What did you do?" Damian laughed.

Rosie flopped down on the stone step next to Damian. "I fail at life."

"Clearly." A cheerleader said standing in front of them. "Damian, Mr. Schue wants to talk to you in his office."

Damian nodded.

"Now." She said, holding her hand out to him.

Damian grabbed her hand and stood up.

"I'm Quinn. I'm in glee club too." She said, releasing his hand.

Damian nodded. Her grabbed his backpack and stuck his rolled up comic book into his back pocket.

Quinn led Damian through the halls and to Mr. Schue's office. Damian stood in the doorway of his office.

"Come in." Mr. Schue said, looking up from his computer. "Shut the door."

Damian shut the door and sat down in the chair. He dropped his backpack on the floor and waited for Mr. Schue to start talking.

"Are you okay?" Mr. Schue asked, leaned forward, resting his elbows on his desk.

Damian shrugged. "What do you mean?"

"What happened in Spanish this morning?" Mr. Schue asked.

"Nothing. They were just getting on my nerves." Damian said.

"I've known you for over a month, I know I don't know you that well, but you've never acted like that before. Are you sure everything is okay?"

Damian nodded.

"Is everything okay at home?"

Damian slid down in his seat, hoping that if he didn't answer, Mr. Schue would let it go.

"_Is_ everything okay at home, Damian."

Thoughts ran through Damian's mind. His father had been calling at least once a week wanting to talk to his little sister, Taylor, not really bothering to talk to him unless he answered the phone. His mom had a new boyfriend. She had had boyfriends before, but there was something about this guy that got under Damian's skin. His mom is hardly around, and when she was around she was wrapped around Taylor's little finger. Damian spent most of his time in his room or at Cameron's, even though he felt awkward and out of place over there, no matter how comforting they were over there. They reminded him too much of his friends back in Ireland, and he didn't want to think about that. He had been in America for two months, and he hadn't been able to talk to his friends back home once, other then emails.

The bell ran, pulling Damian out of his trance.

"Damian is there anything you need to talk about." Mr. Schue said.

"I'm late for class." Damian grabbed his backpack and walked out of the office.

The halls were crowded with people going in every direction. He joined the mull of people are headed towards his next class, people bumping into him and saying nothing except the occasional "move it."

Damian pressed himself against the wall, letting people shuffle by. The warning bell rang and everyone ran towards his or her next class. Damian didn't move. The bell rang again and the hallways were completely empty.

He pushed off the wall and turned into the auditorium, which he had only been in twice, both for glee club. He climbed the steps and sat in the very back row, staring at the lone piano sitting in the middle of the stage.

* * *

><p>"Hi, Matheus." Brittany said, walking out of her history class.<p>

"Brittany," Matheus smiled.

"Wanna come over to my house for dinner tonight?" Brittany asked.

Matheus's heart pounded hard. "Sure."

"…oooh. I forgot…my brother has a soccer game…we'll be going to that, then having dinner…is that okay?" she asked.

"Totally." Matheus smiled.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note.<em>

_WAIT! Don't click next yet! I would like you to read this!_

_I'm surprised at Damian for blowing up at them, even if it was just a little bit like that. That really wrote itself, I never meant for that to happen._

_I'm a little mad at myself for this chapter, it's all about Damian, and a little Matheus. And the next chapter is gonna be the same (It's almost done being written.) I wish the chapters weren't so certa Damian and Cameron._

_Does anybody read when I start babbling like this?_

_Before you go on, I would really, really, really, really appericate it if you would comment._

_Sorry for begging for comments, I would just like some feed back on what y'all are thinking of what I'm writing._

_Thanks_

_-Shelby_


	12. Chapter 11

"Rosie, can you give me a ride to Dalton?" Damian asked, putting his duffle bag on his shoulder.

"No. My ma won't lemme drive with my wrist like this sorry." Rosie said, pushing open the front door.

"You seen Cameron?" he asked, holding the door for her.

"Who?"

"Shit…seen Lindsey?" Damian groaned.

"Over by her blue convertible." Rosie pointed across the parking lot. "Sorry, Dame."

Rosie ran off.

"Jesus, I don't wanna do this." He muttered to himself as he crossed the parking lot.

Lindsey was leaning against the door of her convertible talking to Rachel Berry. She looked relieved when Damian walked up.

"Hey, Damian." She smiled.

"Hi, Damian. I'm so glad—" Rachel started.

"Yeah, sure." Damian interrupted her. He turned to Lindsey. "Is that offer for a ride still available?"

"Get it." Lindsey smiled.

Damian slid into the passenger seat and buckled up. Lindsey started the car and peeled out.

"You're friends with Rachel Berry?" Damian asked, tightening his knee brace.

"Not at all. She annoys me. But we used to be best friends in like kindergarten. Before I moved to Paris." Lindsey said. "I'll never admit this to anybody, but I missed Lima."

"I miss Ireland." Damian sighed, staring out the window.

"You'll get used to a new place." Lindsey said, squeezing his knee.

Damian pulled away gently.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be creepy." Lindsey said, putting her hand back on the wheel.

Damian slouched in his seat and rested his head against the window.

"Okay. Anderson, Mitchell, Larsen, Umbridge, Potter, Granger, Tinsom, Killian, Peters, Harris, Phelps, you're starting." Coach Booth said, reading the names. "You know this is Redding, so give it you're all, which you should always be doing."

"Coach, you said I was starting." Damian objected.

"Not on that knee, McGinty." Coach said, tapping his clipboard on his knuckles.

"Coach, come on. I've played on worse. I'll be fine. Once I start playing, they only thing that'll prove I have a bum knee is the brace." Damian argued.

"This isn't a discussion, McGinty."

"Coach, you've seen me at practices. I'm good, even with my knee I'm better then some of the team, you know that."

"I know."

"Then let me play."

"Coach, I'll sit out if it gets him to shut up." George Phelps said.

"Fine. McGinty, on wingback." He gripped his clipboard tightly. "Now get your asses on the damn field."

"Should Damian be playing with his knee like that?" Eliza asked, bouncing Emma on her knees.

Cameron shrugged.

"He's good, does it matter?" Lindsey asked.

"It can, baby girl." Her mom, Kate said, rubbing her back.

"That's why Blaine's I the net now." Her little brother Ben said. "He played on a bad knee, and messed it up more."

Lindsey nodded.

"Does Damian have anyone here to watch him play?" Eliza asked.

Cameron shook his head. "He has a mom and a sister, his dad is back in Ireland."

"Why isn't his mom here?" Kate asked.

Cameron shrugged. "He's kind of a private person. I know his mom works till late, that's why he eats with us a lot, but I don't know why she isn't here."

* * *

><p>A scream erupted from the field and everyone spun around. Damian was lying on his back holding his knee, his face withered in pain. The referee blew his whistle and the game stopped.<p>

"That's a foul!" Tyler screamed, pointing at number 17 from the apposing team.

Damian swallowed hard and pushed himself up, all eyes were on him. He was standing on his left leg. He shifted his weight, testing his knee. He screamed and fell to the ground.

Coach Booth and a medic ran onto the field. Eliza handed Emma to Cameron and ran on to the field. Zack knelt down beside Damian.

The medic checked Damian's knee.

"You his mom?" she asked Eliza, holding the brace out to her. "Get him to the ER, get his knee x-rayed. It can wait, but the sooner then better, okay?"

Eliza nodded, taking the brace.

"Let's get him off the field." Coach Booth said.

Zack and Coach Booth pulled Damian to his feet and helped him off the field. They set him down on the bench and the game started again. The medic wrapped Damian's knee in an ace bandage and put and ice pack to it.

"X-rays. The sooner the better. Okay, mom?" she said.

Eliza nodded. "Damian, where are you're bags?"

"Locker room." Damian said, through gritted teeth. "Phelps…can you get my bags?"

George nodded and ran into the locker room.

"Let's get you to the car." She said, holding her hands out.

Damian leaned on Eliza and let her help him to the car. Eliza buckled him into the front seat and went to get Emma.

George jumped the fence, Damian's bags slung across his back.

"Mrs. Mitchell?" Damian asked, once they were headed to the hospital.

"You can call me Eliza, sweetheart. No need to be so formal." She smiled at him.

"Eliza?" Damian started over. "Why…why did come on to the field when I got hurt?"

Eliza hesitated, thinking. "Well, baby, I knew your mom couldn't be here today, and when my kids get hurt, they always want Mommy to be there. I thought you could use a mom."

Damian quickly wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I know it hurts, sweetie. We're almost there." Eliza said, with a smile.

Damian wasn't crying because his knee hurt, he was crying because it had been a while since someone had been a mom figure to him. He knew that Eliza knew that he was crying for that reason.

* * *

><p>"Are you Damian's mother?" the doctor asked.<p>

Eliza nodded and picked Emma up.

"We gave him a light sedative to help with the pain. He's a little loopy right now. Here is a prescription for Vicodin. Give him one every six hours, if there is still pain, which there shouldn't be, he can take some ibuprofen. Have him come back in a few weeks for some x-rays." He said. "He'll be on crutches for a week. Make sure he keeps the leg brace on at all times. He can take it off to change his clothes and shower, but then it goes right back on."

Eliza nodded and took the piece of paper.

Once they were in the car, Damian fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"<em>Ay you!" a voice hollered.<em>

_Damian spun around and saw his best friends, Paul and the Wallace twins, Kagen and William and their sister Brooke._

"_Ay you!" Brooke yelled._

_A smiled spread across Damian's face._

_Paul grabbed her around her waist and spun her around. He dropped her hard on her feet. She fell on to her butt. Damian wanted to go help her up, but he couldn't move._

"_Do you miss Damian?" Kagen asked, pulling her too her feet._

"_Who?" William asked._

"_Damian…McGinty, I think it was." Brooke laughed, leaning into Paul lovingly. "Lad we used to be friends with before he up and moved away from us. He was a wee bit tall. Sang a good tune. He moved away and never bothered to keep in contact with us."_

"_That's not true! I do call!" he tired to scream, but he didn't produce any sound._

"_Guess he met some new mates in America." William said._

"_Out grew us is more like it." Paul rolled his eyes._

"_Whatever, if he can move on. So can we." Brooke said, kissing Paul on the cheek._

* * *

><p>"Damian! Wake up. It was only a bad dream." Eliza said, shaking him.<p>

Damian jerked awake, and rammed his crutches against his leg. A hot pain shot up his leg. Damian bit back a scream.

Eliza held a bottle out to him.

"One every six hours." She said.

He nodded and took the bottle.

"It doesn't look like anyone is home." Eliza said, looking out Damian's window at his dark house. "Will you be okay by yourself?"

Damian shrugged, not wanting to go inside to a dark, empty, lonely house.

"You want to stay the night?" she asked.

Damian nodded. "My mom is probably at her boyfriend's. Taylor is most likely at a friend's house."

"You can borrow some of Tyler's clothes again. We'll make up the couch for you to sleep on, unless you feel like taking on two sets of stairs to get to the other bed in Cameron's room."

"I don't know. Do you people wake up early?" Damian asked, dry swallowing a white pill from the bottle.

Eliza nodded, driving down the street.

"I'll try the stairs." Damian said.

"They aren't that step, and I'll help you."

The car slowed to a stop in their driveway.

"I'll take Emma inside and be right out for you." Eliza said.

Eliza picked Emma up out of her car seat, grabbed Damian's duffle bag and headed into the house.

Damian pushed himself out of the car, slung his backpack on and slowly gimped up the walk.

* * *

><p>"Ellis, I do like him…I've come to that conclusion." Cameron muttered, rolling over.<p>

"Well, what are you going to do? You see him basically everyday. In glee club, in certain classes, at home even." Ellis yawned.

"I wish I could tell him, but if I do. It will totally mess up our friendship. And I'm okay just being friends with him." Cameron sighed, staring out his window.

"No you are not." Ellis sniped.

"Well, that's beside the point. I guess I'll just live crushing from a far."

"Cammie, that's the whole point. I hate seeing you hurt."

"Ellie…just…can we let it go for now…move on to you or something?"

"Uhm…I'm good. My life is…fine right now…no worries." Ellis stammered.

The door at the far end of his room opened.

"Eliza, why do they have to be spiral stairs?" a familiar Irish voice asked.

"Elle…he's spending the night in my room. Oh boy." Cameron sighed.

"You'll be fine, silly. I promise. Just talk to him like he's your friend. Not you're crush. Now it's past midnight, hit the hay." Ellis said, hanging up with no goodbye.

Cameron shut his cell phone and plugged it into the charger.

His mom was helping Damian across the room. Damian flopped down on the bed next to Cameron's. He was wearing a pair of Tyler's blue plaid pajama pants, the black t-shirt he had worn to school and the gray zip up he usually had on. His feet were bare and he had a brace from his ankle to his hip on his right leg.

"Man you really messed you're leg up didn't you?" Cameron asked, lying down in his bed.

Damian nodded. "Not my fault though. Kid tackled me."

"Go to bed, both of you." Eliza said.

The boys lied down in their beds. Eliza covered Cameron up and kissed him. "Night Cam."

"Night, Mom." He said.

She took his glasses off and set them on his nightstand. She turned around and covered Damian up.

"Night Dame." She said then planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Night." Damian said quietly, his throat tight.

The door closed and Eliza's footsteps descended down the stairs.

"Damian, are you okay? I mean other then your knee?" Cameron asked, looking across the dark room.

"I miss…a lot of things…I miss my da, my ma, my friends…Ireland." Damian said, burying his face in the pillow.

"It's should be early morning in Ireland. Call your friends." Cameron said.

Damian looked over at Cameron.

"Yeah, they are probably awake by now. Call 'em. Talk to 'em."

Damian pulled his phone out of his backpack and stared at the screen.

"It's dead." Damian dropped his phone the floor.

"Use mine." Cameron fumbled around trying to find his phone in the dark.

"I know their numbers, but I don't know the extension." Damian sighed.

"Skype. Use my computer. I'm sure one of them is on the site." Cameron said.

"They all are. We used to Skype back in home." He said, sitting up.

Cameron flipped on a few lights and sat down on the bed next to Damian. Damian took the computer and logged into his Skype account.

"William is online." Damian said, setting the computer on the table and angling it so he could be seen. Cameron was in the shot too.

"Request a chat." Cameron said.

Damian bit his lip remembering his dream, hoping it wasn't true. Before he could finish his thoughts, the computer dinged.

"Chat request from Braveheart." Cameron said. "Braveheart?"

"William. His last name is Wallace. William Wallace. Like the movie Braveheart. His twin brother Kagen is Highlander, because his middle name is Duncan."

"What are you?" Cameron asked.

"DJ, Braceface, Leprechaun. Nothing that really stuck. Screen name is just D-McGinty." Damian said.

"Are we gonna accept Braveheart or not?" Cameron asked.

Damian nodded.

Cameron reached forward and clicked accept.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes<em>

_I know the nicknames are very creative and original, sarcasm in that statement. It's a joke for one of my friends who was sitting next to me as I wrote this._

_For those of you who commented on both chapters, thank you!_

_I also want to say thank you to _**_UniqueBeautifulMe _**_for commenting on every one of my chapters, you are awesome for that. And I also want to say thank you to **inkbender **for being really nice to me when I took one of his ideas and complemting my ideas._

_And thanks to everyone who reads, and thank you even more if you are one of the people who comments._

_-Shelby_


	13. Chapter 12

"Braceface!" William screamed.

He was standing hunched over his desk, a wide smile across his face. He was wearing his school uniform slacks, which were hanging low on his hips; his chest was bare, showing off his abs, but he was wearing his tie.

"Where's Highlander?" Damian asked, trying to look past William to get a look at the familiar room.

"Uhm…lad's still in the shower." William said, resting his elbows on the desk so he took up the full screen.

"What are you hiding from me?" Damian asked, his cheerful tone gone.

"Who you talking to?" Kagen's voice filled Damian's ears.

"What's up, Highlander? What's your brother hiding from me?" Damian asked.

Kagen's head dipped into view, his sandy hair falling away from his face. He was leaning sideways, a smile on his face.

"Hey, Dame-o." He smiled. "I'm not hiding anything. He is."

Kagen poked his brother in the shoulder.

"William, what are you hiding?" Damian asked.

Kagen and William locked eyes and started silently arguing. Damian threw his hand in the air, when the twins got like that it was never a good thing.

"It's for health is why I'm not moving." William said with a grimace.

"I'm already on crutches…" Damian said, rubbing his throbbing knee. "It can't get much worse then that."

"You're mental health." William clarified.

"Is it a dead body?" Damian asked.

William shook his head, clearly confused.

"Then move let me see. I'm a big boy. I'm not a waayin anymore. I'll be fine." Damian said.

William and Kagen exchanged another glance and Damian rolled his eyes.

A hand landed on each of the boys' shoulders.

"They are hiding me from you. They think you're not ready to see me and that I'm not ready to see you." Brooke said, her words icy. "Overprotective gits."

Brooke marched out of the room.

"Damn." Cameron said, making the twins look over at him. "I don't even know what and I felt the awkward and the pain…"

"Who's that?" Kagen asked.

"My friend Cameron…William? Do you remember when you stabbed me last year?" Damian asked.

"Let it go, lad. It was a wee accident." William moaned, pulling his white button up on.

"A wee accident that lost him two pints of blood, gave him twenty stitches, an overnight stay at the hospital with a blood bag attached to his arm, and a month of rehabilitation to get the muscle working right." Kagen barked, struggling to tie his tie.

William looked down at his feet.

"That's not what I meant. I forgive you…but I think when you stabbed me it hurt less then that. I should have listened to the both of you." Damian said then shut his laptop.

"Damian, I'm sorry." Cameron started.

"Forget it. I'm happy I got to talk to them…just go to bed, okay?" Damian asked, lying down on the old bed.

Cameron nodded and flopped down on his bed.

* * *

><p>"How long did Damian stay with you?" Ellis asked as her and Cameron ran up the steps.<p>

"Most of the weekend. His mom had to work over time because Taylor had to go to the orthodontist. She didn't want Damian left home alone with his knee like that, so she asked if he could stay at our place. So he packed a bag and stayed the weekend with us." Cameron said, pushing his wet hood off. "He even stayed with us last night."

"Did y'all talk at all?" Ellis smiled, nudging Cameron.

"He was pretty bummed, so we mainly left him alone. He stayed in my room mainly…just lying in bed listening to his iPod, typing on his laptop of sleeping. Mom was with him a lot."

"Why would he be upset?"

"His mom basically dumped him on us. He can't play soccer. His knee probably hurts something fierce. Something about his dad, I don't really know what's up with that. I only know cause he talks in his sleep. And something about this girl Brooke in Ireland."

"Who's Brooke?" Ellis asked.

"The Wallace twin's little sister. I don't know, Ellis. He's a private person…but he's hurting. Emotionally." Cameron said, stopping at his locker. "He…don't tell anyone I told you this. But…I heard him crying himself to sleep last night."

"That's not good. Would you mind if I talked to him during glee club today, not about you. About him?"

"Go ahead."

Ellis smiled and bounded down the hall.

* * *

><p>"It's raining, Samuel. You shouldn't be outside." A voice said from behind him.<p>

Samuel quickly hid his half smoked blunt in his fist, ignoring the burn of the embers in his palm. He blew out a mouthful of smoke and turned around. Marissa was standing in the doorway, the hood of her purple striped hoodie covering her beautiful red hair.

"I'm not really outside. I'm under…" Samuel looked up. "This little roof thingy."

"Come inside. It's freezing out here, you'll catch you're death." She said, walking closer to him.

"I'll be right in. Let me get my stuff." He said quickly so she wouldn't come any closer. The last thing he needed was for her to smell the weed and freak out.

"I'll be in the art room. I have lunch for us." She smiled. "And I wanna show you something."

Samuel nodded and watched her walk into the building. He opened his palm and pulled the burnt out blunt away from his hand. A nice burn was in the middle of his palm in the shape of a heart. He gave it a weird look, sprayed himself with Ax, grabbed his bags and headed to the art room.

Marissa was sitting at her usual long, paint stained table. She had spread out a large sheet of paper on the spot in front of her and next to her. A brown paper bag sat next to her. She was hunched over her sketchbook, as usual.

"Hey." He said, sitting down beside her. "Am I modeling today?"

"No, today…I thought you could get to know me a little better so maybe you'll shut up when I draw you." She laughed, putting her sketchbook into her backpack and pulling out a red photo album. "You hungry?"

"Starving." He nodded.

Marissa set two cans of pop in front of them and dumped out the paper bag. Two sandwiches, a couple pieces of fruit, a bag of vegetables, a few small bags of chips and a bag of chocolate chip cookies landed on the table in front of them.

"Who makes you lunch? Mrs. Brady?" Samuel asked, picking up a sandwich.

"Might as well…one of these sandwiches is peanut butter and apples, the other is hummus and granola."

"What the hell is hummus? It sounds like something a drunken bee would say. Hummus." Samuel started laughed.

"You're a odd one, aren't you?" Marissa asked, taking the hummus sandwich from Samuel.

Samuel nodded and started eating the peanut butter sandwich. "So what's in the book?"

"Don't talk with your mouth full." She teased, nudging him with her shoulder. "It's my life birth to about when I was ten."

"I wish my parents did that…they did with Tyler." Samuel shrugged and reached for the book.

He pulled it between them and opened it up. On the first page was Marissa's birth certificate.

"Marissa Eloise von Bleicken. Born April second nineteen ninety-four at four thirty seven in the morning. Seven pounds two ounces."

He flipped the page and there were pictures of Marissa wrapped in a white hospital blanket with a pink hat on her head.

He flipped the pages. Marissa taking a bath in the sink, a pink wash cloth on her head. Marissa's first birthday, cake smeared on her face. Marissa being potty trained, sitting on the blue potty on the floor, naked with a picture book in her lap. Marissa asleep, using a puppy as her pillow.

"Your parents sure did record everything about you, didn't they?" Samuel asked, flipping the page. "Your first word was crab cakes?"

"I'm their only child. My mom had a really small chance of getting pregnant, something about her eggs…and they didn't want to use a segregate mother, they wanted me to be all them, no help. And when she found out she was pregnant with me; it was a miracle." Marissa said, flipping the page. "And she got sick not to long after she had me, can't have anymore babies. So I'm their whole word and yeah, my first word was crab cakes."

Samuel laughed and flipped the page again. Marissa's second birthday, sitting in a high chair with a crown on her head, eating a cupcake with blue frosting. Marissa's first swim practice, standing by the pool, holding Mommy's hand dressed in a white and red polka dot two piece swim suit. Marissa sitting in a swing at the park with Daddy pushing her, a smile on her face. Marissa at Disney Land in the Dumbo ride with Daddy, waving at Mommy. Marissa being hugged by Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Marissa kissing Mickey on the nose. Marissa dressed up and Cinderella. Marissa asleep in the car on the way home.

"You're parents were camera happy." Samuel muttered, flipping the pages.

Marissa at ballet practice at age four. Marissa's first day of school. Marissa smiling missing two from teeth. A lot of Marissa opening presents on different Christmases, always wearing fancy pajamas.

Marissa dressed in a frilly dress at age seven in a beauty pageant.

"You were in beauty pageants?" Samuel exclaimed, choking on a cookie.

Marissa nodded and patted him on the back. "I won a lot of them too. My mom has a glass case full of my crowns and trophies. It something she made me do till I got tired of it around age eleven. I used to like it. But I out grew it, I got friends at school. I got sick of missing school for a pageant. It was a lot of work too. Having to get my hair and make up done. Get spray tanned because I'm so pale, get my eyebrows waxed."

Samuel nodded and kept flipping through the pages.

* * *

><p>"Okay, guys. We need to start working on our set list for sectionals." Rachel said. "I suggest a duet with me and Finn, a fast upbeat song and into a soft love song to end on."<p>

"Ah hell to the naw. That's what we did last year and we didn't even place." Mercedes objected.

"Yeah, Rachel. Give someone else a chance to take center stage." Quinn spoke up, fiddling with the gold cross that hung around her neck. "Like me and Sam perhaps?"

Ellis slid over a seat and sat by Damian who was spaced out.

"Damian?" she said.

"Hmm?" Damian groaned. He was slouching his chair, his head resting on the back, eyes closed, hands deep in his pockets, his right leg propped up on another chair.

"Are you asleep?" she asked, wondering how he hadn't fallen yet.

He shook his head.

"You okay?" she asked. "I mean other then your knee."

"What do you mean?"

"Home life? Love life?"

"Well I have no love life really. Home…could be bet-bet-better." Damian said, failing to stifle a massive yawn.

"Do you sleep at night?" she asked.

"Usually. But not so much last night my dad called my cell phone, wanted to talk to Taylor. He spent ten minutes yelling at me for sleeping at Cameron's on a school night." Damian yawned. "Even if he hadn't called, I wouldn't have slept…and I'm not telling you why."

Ellis nodded, very curious about Damian now. Maybe he was awake because he was thinking about someone he liked, maybe that someone was Cameron.

The bell rang pulling Ellis back to reality. She watched Damian crutch of out the choir room and raced to find Cameron.

* * *

><p>Damian sat down on a damp stone step and rested his head against the school. He reached into his backpack and pulled out his orange bottle of vicodin.<p>

"You better not get caught with those." Someone said standing in front of him.

"Hey Miki…why are I always surrounded by niners?" Damian asked, popping a pill into his mouth. "You, Cameron, Ellis. Marissa is the my age I hang out with here."

"Do you not want to be around freshman?" McKynleigh asked.

"I don't mind you. You guys are cool…it's just a weird fact." Damian said.

"I need to talk to my dad about something…I'll talk to you later Damian." She said, walking off.

Damian laid down and pressed his cheek against the cold cement.

"What's with you?" Quinn asked, kneeling in front of him.

"Is this even your lunch hour?" Damian asked.

"Yeah, I'm just usually in the inside cafe. But it's really crowded. What's up with you?" she sat down next to him and pulled out her lunch from her backpack.

"I think I pissed Miki off." He muttered.

"Where's your lunch?" she asked.

"I forgot my wallet at home…I blame these drugs…they mess with my head."

Quinn dropped a sandwich, a bag of mini cookies and a juice box in front of Damian's face.

"What are you gonna eat?" he asked, rolling on to his back.

"Sit up. You'll choke if you're lying down." She said, pulling a bag of baby carrots out of the brown bag.

Damian watched her nibble on a baby carrot as he stuffed half the peanut butter sandwich in his mouth.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note<em>

_Filler chaper mainly. I did give you a little dip into Damian's Ireland life, but that was basically it. I'll get more into McKynleigh and Lindsey next chapter. And Matheus too. I just realized he hasn't been around much. I hope you liked it though. Don't forget to review._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_


	14. Chapter 13

"Ellis! Where have you been?" her mother, Merry screamed as she walked in the front door.

"I told you, I had to stay after for a school project." Ellis lied.

Her little sisters were running wild around the house. Her baby sister, Rory was sitting in her high chair throwing Cheerio's over the kitchen. The twins, Jessie and Amber, who were seven, were writing on the walls in the living room with their crayons. Avery, who just turned eleven, was sitting on the white sofa, painting her toe nails bright red, the couch was already covered in stains and now red drops were in the process of being added. The sister closest to her age, Gabby, was sitting at the top of the stairs, living up to her name, she was gabbing on her cell phone, ignoring the chaos.

The TV was up loudly, the twins were laughing and telling each other what to draw in their made up twin language, Gabby was talking loudly, Rory was screeching just to add to the noise, the phone was ringing off the hook, a radio was on in the kitchen and times were going off telling Merry that dinner was ready, but she was too busy filling out papers for who knows what.

Ellis marched to her room and shut the door. She looked at a picture of her and her father sitting on her dresser.

She missed her father. He walked out on the family not too long after Rory came along. There was much debate about who was really the father to all the girls. They hardly looked alike. But he had gotten a vasectomy after the twins, realizing how much of a handful they were. But Rory happened anyway. Conclusion, adultery.

The only good thing about him was he stuck around, not caring if there were his kids or not, he knew Ellis was his and there was a strong possibility that the rest of the ankle biters were his too. When the new baby came along, he knew there was no way that it was his and left.

Ellis doesn't blame him; she never blamed him. Why would a man want to take care of a bunch of girls that weren't even his? She blamed that bitchy, two-timing, whore that was her mother.

Ellis couldn't wait to get out of this house.

The noise seeped in through the cracks around the door, driving her over her boiling point.

As always she was going to have to be the adult. She marched out of the kitchen and snatched the cell phone from Gabby's hands and closed it.

"Enough talking. Kitchen. Dinner. Now." She barked, shoving the phone in her pocket.

Gabby ran down the stairs. Ellis walked into the living room. She turned the TV off and closed the red nail polish. She grabbed the magazine from Avery's hand and pointed to the kitchen. Avery slid off the couch and walked on her heels to the kitchen.

Ellis smiled briefly before heading over to the twins.

"No more writing on the walls." She snapped, holding her hand out. "Crayons."

The twins reluctantly handed her their boxes.

"Thank you. Dinnertime. And talk normally." She said, putting the crayons in a drawer on the computer desk.

She walked into the kitchen, took the bowl of Cheerios from Rory and tossed it in the sink. She pulled a dish of spaghetti out of the over and dropped it on the table. Spots of red sauce were on her mother's red papers.

"Dinner's served." She said, walking out of the kitchen.

She pulled her sneakers and hoodie on and left.

* * *

><p>The MitchellPierce house was filled with noise and smells. It was organized chaos.

Eliza was in the kitchen, making dinner. The kids were in the living room. Damian was asleep on the couch, his leg propped up in Marissa's lap. Brittany and Santana were in a heap on the loveseat, giggling. Cameron was lying across the coffee table. Samuel was sitting on the floor, leaning against Marissa. McKynleigh sat beside the coffee table, her legs stretched out under the table, typing things into her laptop, which rested on Cameron's slim stomach. Emma sat three feet away from the TV, staring at the TV show that played, the only one watching TV. A million different conversations were going on.

"That's so not fair Cameron." McKynleigh said. "Superman is obviously gonna win. He has super powers. Batman would be totally useless unless he had kryptonite. Which you can only get on Krypton. And since Batman can't fly, he can't go there. That's not even a legitimate question. Next one."

"King Kong or Godzilla?" Cameron asked.

McKynleigh's computer jumped with Cameron's words.

* * *

><p>"Michael Jackson." Samuel said.<p>

"Are you mental? The Beatles are way better then Michael." Marissa retorted.

"Michael Jackson has thirteen number one hits on the Bill Board Top One Hundred." Samuel said.

"The Beatles have had twenty seven number ones. I think that trumps Michael's pitiful thirteen. And there are four Beatles. There's only one Michael."

"Exactly there is only one Michael. You don't have to worry about playing favorites. And what about the other four in the Jackson Five?"

"Okay, A. you said Michael Jackson, not the Jackson Five. Two. Nobody cares about the others. Nobody even knows their names. Quarto. The Beatles are still better."

"Michael sold over a hundred million albums."

"The Beatles have sold over three hundred million. And Michael Jackson was only good until he made Bad."

* * *

><p>"How do you think they get the jelly in the donuts?" Brittany asked, tracing the stitching on Santana's Cheerios top with her finger.<p>

"Maybe they just use like a syringe and do it like that." Santana laughed, used to Brittany's weird questions.

"Maybe they have a magic jelly fairy. And she comes in in a fancy little dress with a crown and a magic wand. She waves the wand over the empty donut, the magic white fairy powder goes all over the donut and it's magically filled with jelly."

"Cameron, how did you end up so smart?"

"She has a different dad then me. She was from Mom's first husband, but he died and Mom found Dad and had Zack, me and Emma." Cameron explained.

"Or maybe they bake the donuts with the jelly inside." Santana said just to confuse Brittany.

* * *

><p>"Life sucks…I want pie." Ellis said, walking into the living room. "Cam, did you Mom make pie?"<p>

Cameron shrugged. "What's wrong?"

"Same old junk." Ellis sighed, sitting on the armrest of the couch by Damian.

"I don't even know what that is. You won't tell us." Cameron said.

Ellis opened her mouth but Eliza called the kids for dinner. Ellis was happy she didn't have to explain anything to anyone just yet.

* * *

><p>"Damian, wake up. It's time for food." Emma said, hitting him in the face with her teddy bear.<p>

"Emma, that ain't nice." Cameron said, picking her up.

Damian groaned and sat up.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." Marissa smiled at him.

Damian groaned and grabbed his crutches.

Marissa made herself a plate and helped Damian make one. She carried the plates outside, where everyone else was.

There was no table on the deck so everyone was sitting everywhere. Damian sat down on the edge of the deck; his leg stretched out in the grass and took his plate from Marissa.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note<em>

_Yes! I finally got away from Damian and Cameron all the time! You may not be too happy about that, but I sure am. I finally got in my Ellis history, well part of it. And I had someone ask about Brittany and Cameron's last names, I'm glad I got around to answering that._

_I am aware the chapters haven't been very New Direction related, but the next chapter will be very New Directiony...wow, that was...anyway..._

_Thank you for your reveiws guys, they are awesome. I would like you people to log in before you review that way if you have a question, I will be able to answer it for you._

_I have been asked a few times about my stories involving Cameron's sexuality and Damian's constant mental abuse. I have three stories with Cameron and he is bi in two of them and straight in another. And Damian...I just kill him mental/emotionally. I didn't realize I did this. I don't know why I do it...I blame the Glee Project for the sexuality issues with Cameron. The whole Damian/Cameron bromance gets me thinking and...yeah. As for Damian...I don't know._

_I have posted a few new stories if you would like to check them out, mainly Harry Potter ones. I'm not gonna shove them down your throat, just saying they are there if you want to check them out. If you don't want to, you don't have to._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_


	15. Chapter 14

Rachel, Mercedes and Quinn stood in the front of the room arguing about who was going to get the solos at an upcoming concert at the town carnival.

Most of the guys in glee club seemed used to the girls fighting; they just stared on like it was nothing.

"Ladies! We still have time to figure out who get the solos!" Mr. Schue said loudly.

The girls sat down.

"We still have to pick the songs." He said. "Anyone have any suggestions?"

"Cee Low." Puck suggested.

"No." Mr. Schue said.

Damian raised his hand. Mr. Schue nodded at him.

"Why not the Beatles?" he asked.

"My vote is for Green Day." Matheus spoke up.

"How do either of those translate into show choir?" Rachel asked.

"Green Day is on Broadway. I thought Rachel Berry of all people would know who was on Broadway." Matheus said.

Rachel scoffed and turned away from the freshman.

"I say the Beatles cause some of their songs are slow and…I can't really dance right now. At all actually." Damian said.

"You can probably dance better then Finn." Kurt joked.

"I can hardly walk in a straight line." Damian said.

"We can work on that. And we will be performing a few stool numbers." Mr. Schue said. "For Damian's sake. I'll take your suggestions into consideration when I make up the set list."

* * *

><p>McKynleigh pulled the cart behind her as she shelved books in the library, what she usually did during lunch.<p>

As usual, less then ten kids occupied the library. Artie was sitting at a table, reading a comic book, Rachel was researching something Glee club related and Lauren and Puck sat in the corner, hunched over a laptop.

_Don't give up when it all comes down_  
><em>Only things you've lost are found<em>  
><em>Just around the corner, just around the corner<em>  
><em>When you don't think you can take no more<em>  
><em>You just might find what you're searching for<em>  
><em>Just around the corner, just around the corner<em>

McKynleigh stopped shelving books and looked at the table where Damian sat. He had is headphones and was looking down at a comic book. His voice was quiet, but still beautiful and pure.

She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He jumped and pushed his headphones off.

"Oh, hey. Miki." He said, leaning back in his seat.

"I've never really heard you sing before. You're really good." She said.

"Thanks." Damian smiled modestly.

McKynleigh took a deep breath, summoning up all the courage she could muster.

"Damian, would you like to go get coffee after school?" she asked quickly.

"…Sure." Damian said. "I usually go to Cameron's after school for dinner and homework, you want to come after we get coffee?"

McKynleigh nodded and walked out.

Once she was in an isle, away from Damian, she started bouncing up and down. She finally did it. She asked Damian out and he had said yes! He liked her too! McKynleigh couldn't wait to tell Cameron and Ellis.

She absented the half empty cart of books and ran to the quad.

"Oh my gosh! You'll never believe what just happened!" she giggled, running up to their usual table.

"You got laid?" Ellis guessed.

"Not yet." McKynleigh said, bouncing on her heels excitedly.

"You discovered America." Cameron said.

"That was Columbus." Ellis said.

"What's your point?" Cameron asked.

"Hello! Focus on me! I have a date!" she yelled jumping up and down.

"With who?" Ellis jumped up onto the stone bench.

* * *

><p>"Yeah, who?" Cameron asked.<p>

"Damian!" she screeched, jumping up and down.

"Awesome!" Ellis said, hugging her friend.

Cameron faked a smile but was hurting on the inside. He wished he could go up and ask Damian to go out. But he was too terrified that that would wreck the friendship.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes<em>

_Just Around The Corner by Simple Plan_

_Yay! I'm writing again! For all of those who begged for another chapter, it's short, but here you go. I will continue this Damian/McKynleigh/Cameron arc in the nect few chapters. (Ugh...seriously more Damian. Shut up voices, I like Damian and so do the readers!) I'll get into other people when I'm done with this. If you are tired of Damian, which I doubt, I will be getting into some Lindsey, Bryce, Alex and Emily soon. And some Brittany/Matheus too!_

_I have written two new stories. Another Glee Project story. Totally unrelated to this one. It's has all new personals for the Glee Project kids. It's pretty good._

_I have also written another story. It's my version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show with the Glee Project kids. It's quiet good, if I do say so myself. I have a chapter written for it so far. It's a smut story. So...just FYI._

_I think I'm done here. I hope you check those stories out._

_Thanks._

_- Shelby_


	16. Chapter 15

McKynleigh waited outside the front doors of the school, watching students pass by, waiting for Damian.

Damian was one of the last students out of the school. He was wearing his gray hoodie, the one with the red slushies stains, the one he let McKynleigh borrow on the first day.

"Hi Damian." She smiled, bouncing up to him.

"Hey." He said. "Where are we going again?"

"Not too far. My dad gave me the car keys so we don't have to walk in the rain." McKynleigh smiled, pulling the car keys out of her pocket.

* * *

><p>"Hi Mrs. Mitchell." Marissa said, flopping down in the living room.<p>

Samuel was sitting on the love seat watching _Planet of the Apes_. Ellis was sitting at the desk in the back of the room doing her homework.

Eliza walked into the living room holding Emma.

"My children aren't even home and I have four kids in my house." She said. "Don't you have homes of your own?"

"Yes but it's lonely. I'm an only child and parents work." Marissa said.

"I hate my house." Samuel said.

"Same." Ellis said, raising her pencil in the air.

"And you feed me." Samuel said.

"Maybe if you were a better child at home." Eliza started.

Samuel opened his mouth to argue.

"I'm only teasing you. I have heard the same things from Tyler. And you are always welcome here…where are my children though?" she asked.

"You're holding one of them." Marissa said, pulling her sketchpad out.

"And Tyler goes to Dalton." Samuel pointed out.

"Brittany is at Cheerio practice, probably." Marissa said.

"I lost Cameron sometime after lunch…I would check his room." Ellis said.

* * *

><p>"Do you like it at McKinley?" McKynleigh asked, sitting down at a table.<p>

She set two cups of coffee on the table and slid one over to Damian.

"It's okay I guess. The people…some of them are assholes." Damian said, sipping his coffee.

"Yeah, the jocks and Cheerios just think they are better then everybody else. There's nothing we can do about it…and being in glee club really doesn't help the bully situation." McKynleigh said.

"How long has your dad been principal?" he asked.

"A while…I think around the time I was born…why?"

"Are you named after the school?"

"I think so…my mom and dad both went there. And I think I was conceived in the parking lot…they say it was just a coincidence, I don't believe them." She said.

Damian laughed.

"What are you named after?" she asked.

"My father. Big macho man had to name his son after himself…don't get me wrong, I like my name and I love my dad…I just wish I wouldn't have to spend my whole life being a junior, know-what-a-me?"

"I get understand." She laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked.

"The things you say…it's priceless." She giggled.

"It's how everyone talks where I'm from."

* * *

><p>Ellis abandoned her English homework and trucked up to Cameron's room. He was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.<p>

"What's with you? You've been in the dumps since lunch." She said, climbing over the footboard and sitting down. "You got a bed frame."

"I found it in the basement and I liked it." Cameron said, avoiding her question.

"What's wrong?" she asked, nudging his leg.

Cameron didn't say anything.

"Cam…they're just getting coffee together. I talked to Damian…he isn't into McKynleigh like that." Ellis said.

Cameron shot up. "So he's just leading her on?"

"I seriously think he thinks they are just getting coffee before they come here." She said, running her fingers through her short hair. "He's pretty oblivious to…relationship stuff."

"Miki is gonna get her heart broken." Cameron said.

"Dude, you're my best friend…I don't understand you. Less then a minute ago you were ready to murder Miki for stealing your man…which you have tell him eventually." Ellis said.

Cameron looked down at his hands.

The front door slammed.

"Let's go see who's here." Ellis said.

The two trucked downstairs. Brittany and Matheus were sitting on the loveseat. McKynleigh and Damian were on the couch. Damian had his leg propped up on the coffee table. McKynleigh was leaning against Damian.

Cameron sighed and headed back up the stairs.

"Eh! Freeze." Ellis said, running after them.

"Why? Look at them." Cameron said.

"Let a girl explain it…Damian is still oblivious to McKynleigh liking him…why? Because his mind s wrapped about…I'm not really sure. Probably that Brooke girl from Skype…but I think I know Damian well enough to say, if he was with a girl, he would make it known, hold her hand, have his arm around her, hand on the knee, something. Go look again and you will see Damian sitting on your couch, like he always is and McKynleigh being on Damian, because she thinks they are together." Ellis said.

"I don't want to look." He protested.

Ellis gripped Cameron's wrist and pulled him down the stairs. Cameron looked around the doorframe at Damian and McKynleigh on the couch. Everything Ellis said was true.

Damian was engrossed in the movie, almost ignoring McKynleigh. McKynleigh was leaning into Damian, one of her hands on his knee.

"See?" Ellis said. "Now the only thing you have to worry about is making a fool of yourself at the carnival this weekend."

Cameron groaned loudly.

Damian looked over and smiled at them, then turned back to the movie.

"Well look at that." Ellis said, hip bumping her friend.

"I'll tell him on Friday." Cameron said, walking into the living room.

"Tell who what on Friday?" Damian asked.

Cameron stepped over Damian's leg and flopped down on the couch on the other side of him.

"Tell Mr. Schue I need an extension on my Spanish report…" Cameron said slowly.

"So, Damian. When do I get to meet these twins of yours?" Ellis asked.

"I can check and see if one of the twins is on Skype…it's one in the morning there. Braveheart is probably doing his homework now." Damian said. "Can I have a laptop?"

Ellis pulled Cameron's laptop out from under the couch and handed it to Damian.

He slid onto the floor and set it on the coffee table. He logged into Skype while everyone piled on to the couch behind him.

The computer dinged and a video feed came up.

"What's up Braceface." William said.

"Hey Braveheart. My friends wanna meet you and Kagen." Damian smiled.

"Kagen's asleep." William said.

"Why are you awake?" McKynleigh asked, leaned forward and putting her hand on Damian's shoulder.

"Homework." He said.

"William this is…McKynleigh, Brittany, Ellis, she's the one who wanted to meet you. Uhm…you more or less know Cameron." Damian said, pointing to everyone as he introduced them. "Brittany, Cameron's sister, Matheus…and Samuel."

"William. Move. I want to talk to him." A girl said.

William looked over his shoulder then back at Damian. Damian nodded sheepishly.

"It's your funeral." William said, standing up.

A girl walked into the shot. Her long, flat ironed, light brown hair framed her pale face. Her cheeks were flushed red. She smiled shyly when she saw Damian.

"Hi Brooke." Damian said nervously.

"Hi Damian." She said, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"How's everything?" he asked.

"Same old." She said, looking around at all of Damian's friends.

Her smiled faded and her green eyes got hard.

"You're arse McGinty!" she yelled storming off.

William sat back down in his chair. "What did you do?"

"I don't know." Damian sighed, leaning back against McKynleigh's legs.

"…is that your girl?" William asked. "The one sitting behind you. McK…something."

Damian shook his head. "I'm not interested in anyone but Brooke."

McKynleigh gasped and his Damian in the back of the head. She got up and stormed out of the living room.

"I'll go talk to her." Ellis said, running after her.

"Never were a ladies man, were you Damo." William laughed.

Damian looked lost. "They confuse me."

Damian rested his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands.

"Well I hear my mum walking around. I'm guessing Brooke yelling woke her up. If she catches me I'm dead. Good luck with everything over there. I'll try and talk to Brooke for you." William said, logging off Skype.

"Well…today I have been humiliated, yelled at, hit, and confused…I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Damian said, standing up.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note.<em>

**_PLEASE READ I NEED YOUR HELP!_**

_Thank you for those of you who are still reading. I need your help. I have an idea for a new story, and I need six people, three boys and three girls. Here's where you come in. Pick your favorite Glee Project characters, three boys and three girls. And they will be coupled together, so please tell me the pairings you like too. Tell me and I will get the new story to you as fast I can._

_Me writing a new story does not mean I will be stopping my other stories. I am still working on all of them, plus a new one. I am just having writters block for most of them, like _Desperado_ I can't think of anything for at the moment. I have not forgot about _Shock Treatment _I just need to find the lyrics to one song and I'll have the new chapter posted. I am almost done with the new chapter of _Better Then Alone_ that will be posted soon. I am still working on _The Runaways _I have so many ideas for it, I just need to get the last few people into it, then we wil be good to go. So those will probably be short chapters when I do update it, which will be soon._

_I have posted new chapters in _Belonging _and_ All I Need. _They are pretty good so go check them out! =D_

_I will post my Lindsay/Damian story soon._

_And the new story, which you will all be helping with is called _Project 17 _I'm not sure why. But it'll be more of a creepy, suspence type story. Something I am good at writing, but nothing I have really posted. So I need those characters._

_And just a reminder, more reviews equals more chapters! So don't forget to review! =D_

_Oh, and for those of you who have been asking about Rosie. She isn't that important. She is still around though. She is one of Marissa's best friends, so when I get into Marissa more, you will see a little more of Rosie. But, she isn't a very big character. She is not going to be part of the glee club, so don't worry about that._

_Okay, I'm done rambling. Thanks for reading. Bye!_

_- Shelby_


	17. Chapter 16

**_I'm saying this now before I end up depacitation somebody! What I did in the announcements was me trying to force anybody to go read a story they could care less about. Y'all missunderstood me. I am aware that that is my fault. I talk like that in real life, but I have a tone in my voice that would have made a difference. You would have known that I wasn't holding a knife to your back forcing you to do something you didn't want to do._**

**_Frankly, I am pretty tired of writing this because I started this before I understood the contenders. Their plot lines in this story seem weak to me. That's why I started Mad World, I like the plot lines I have set up in that story better, and in that story people don't tell me I stuck because I'm not Inkbender. I am aware I'm not him, I know he's better then me, because he's older and been writing longer._**

**_I didn't think it would be such a fucking big deal to tell you I have new chapters and ask for some reviews on another story of mine. To me it was more of an incentive to check out my other story because I have some other better things then this story. It, to me, seemed like putting the "Ophra Book Club" sticker on books at Barnes and Noble and putting them on a sepcial shelf. It draws you to it._**

**_I did it because nobody reads my authors notes, which is how I notify everybody of my new stories and new chapters in other storys. So, I was like screw being ignored, I want my voice heard._**

**_This is basically just an authors note. I think most of you are just going to skim over and go on with the story if you still read my stories because I'm such an "review whore" and a "mean bitch."_**

**_So, if you read this, thank you for reading and hearing what I had to say. Here are your damn chapters I post more later, if you want._**

* * *

><p>"Hey, Samuel. We're friends right?" Cameron asked rolling over on to his side and propping himself up on his elbow.<p>

It was hard to make out Samuel lying in the next bed without his glasses in the dark, but it was obvious he was looking at Cameron.

"Yeah. In that we're friends because of our brothers type way. But I would consider up friends. Why?" Samuel asked.

"Can I ask you something then?" Cameron asked.

"…Depends." He replied slowly.

"Why do you smoke weed?" the blonde asked.

"How do you know if I smoke?"

"I'm not stupid, Samuel. I can smell it. I've seen you smoking. Now answer my question."

"I smoke to forget. I smoke to numb the pain. I smoke because it feels good. It's better then going and getting drunk."

"What pain?"

"Family junk. I don't want to get into it." Samuel rolled over indicating that the conversation was over.

"It's a school night, why do your parents let you spend the night?"

"They don't care. As long as I'm not in jail, they're fine with most of the crap I do." Samuel said bitterly. "And it all depends on…forget it. Go to sleep."

Cameron rolled over and closed his eyes.

* * *

><p>Samuel sat down on the front steps and pulled his guitar out of the hard black case. His guitar reflected how he saw his life. It was covered in stickers and writing, it smelt faintly of weed and was old, dirty and didn't look too pretty.<p>

He loved playing it while he smoked or when he was high, it always sounded better to him when he was high.

_How many special people change_  
><em>How many lives are living strange<em>  
><em>Where were you while we were getting high<em>

Samuel was friends with other druggies and burnouts in the school, but he wasn't into all the shit they were into. They liked getting high because it's what the rappers did. Most of them were posers. They said they smoked, listened to Bob Marley and talked about all the good things about weeds. But Samuel knew that half of them just acted like they didn't care and acted like the smoked. Hardly any of them liked Bob Marley for his music or philosophy. And none of them knew anything about weed except if the cops come flush it down the toilet.

_Someday you will find me_  
><em>Caught beneath a landslide<em>  
><em>In a champagne supernova<em>  
><em>A champagne supernova in the sky<em>

Samuel had been smoking since he was about eleven. He stumbled in on Tyler smoking and he offered his little brother a hit from the bong. Samuel, curious about what his older brother was doing, inhaled from the glass tube like his brother. He coughed and sputtered when he first tried it, but he liked the tingly feeling in his stomach and all the colors soft of blended together in his older brother's colorful room.

_Wake up the dawn and ask her why_  
><em>A dreamer dreams<em>  
><em>She never dies<em>  
><em>Wipe that tear away now from your eye<em>

Samuel felt someone behind him, but didn't bother to look. He was too absorbed in the song. That's another reason why he liked playing, he got so absorbed in the song and the story and the chords of the guitar. Cameron sat down beside him and listened to the song.

_But you and I will never die_  
><em>the world still spinning 'round<em>  
><em>And we don't know why<em>  
><em>Why? Why? Why? Why?<em>

Marissa walked out of the front doors and sat down next to him. He looked over and smiled at her for a quick second, then went back to focusing on the guitar solo. He always had trouble with it because it was an electric guitar solo, but he spent too much on weed to get an electric and an amp.

_How many special people change_  
><em>How many lives are living strange<em>  
><em>Where were you while we were getting high<em>  
><em>Slowly walking down the hall<em>  
><em>Faster then a cannon ball<em>  
><em>Where were you while we were getting high<em>  
><em>While we were getting high<em>  
><em>While we were getting high<em>

Samuel strummed the last chord and reached for the bag of pretzels sitting in his case.

"That was really good Samuel." Marissa smiled.

"Thanks." He smiled back.

The window blew, sending the smell of weed from Samuel to Marissa. She crinkled her nose and shook her head slightly.

"What's that smell?" she asked. "It smells familiar. Like my older brother's bedroom before he left for college."

Samuel opened his mouth, but couldn't think of an excuse.

"Samuel, that was amazing." Mr. Schue said from the front doors. "Have you ever thought about joining the glee club?"

"Not really." Samuel said.

"Think about it." Mr. Schue said, walking back inside.

* * *

><p>Samuel stashed his guitar in the rafters of his garage and headed into the house. He heard yelling before he even pushed open the front door. His mom's beat up blue Toyota sat in the driveway. He wished she would have just gone to his grandmother's so she wouldn't have to take this.<p>

"I should have gone to Cameron's," he muttered, trying to sneak down the hallway to his bedroom.

"Where the fuck have you been, you lazy good for nothing jack ass!" his father roared, spinning around.

"School. I do go there." Samuel said, digging his nails into his palm to keep from yelling.

"Your grades sure don't say so!" He screamed, drunkenly. He was swaying dangerously. "Why can't you be more like Tyler? He goes to a fancy private school on scholarship!"

"How would you know?" Samuel screamed, feeling something in the back of his head snap. "You don't go to my school and talk to my dam teachers! Hell you don't even look at my damn report card! All you do is sit of your fat ass screaming at my mom about how messy the house is! If you have noticed dumb ass, it's spotless! It couldn't be any cleaner if she tried! And when you're not screaming at my mom you're down at the fuck bar getting drunk off your fucking ass!"

"You will not speak to me like that under my roof!" his father slurred.

"It's not your roof! The bank owns it because you can't pay the fucking mortgage, because all your money goes to beer and cheap prostitutes!"

his father stepped towards him, pulling his fist back. Samuel was quicker. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his butterfly knife, he flipped it open with a flourish and held it in front of him, point the sharp blade at his father.

"You wouldn't dare." His father said, challenging him.

"Oh, really. Try me." Samuel said, through his teeth. His hand so tight on the blade, his knuckles were turning white. It was taking all his will power not to drive the blade into his father's chest.

"I'm going to the bar. When I get back, you better not be here otherwise there will be hell to pay!" he screamed, storming out the back door.

Samuel flipped his knife closed and slid it into his back pocket. He rushed over to his mother, she had a handprint on her face and her nose was bleeding all over her white shirt and pearls.

"Are you okay?" he asked, putting a dishtowel to her nose.

She didn't respond, just stared at him with fear in her eyes.

"I'm gonna pack a few bags. We're staying here anymore." He said, he pulled his mom to her feet and helped her back two suitcases for her.

Samuel carried them out to the car, while his mom sat on her bed looking at her wedding photo. Samuel quickly packed two duffle bags for him and a few for Tyler, so he wouldn't have to come back.

"Come on, Mom." He said, taking the picture from her hands. "He'll realize he needs help once we're gone."

Samuel tossed the picture to the ground; the glass broke.

"I'm gonna go to Cameron's is that okay?" Samuel asked, pulling two duffle bags out of the car.

"You want a ride?" she asked.

Samuel shook his head. "Just go to Grandma's. I'll be there soon."

He headed down the block and slid his hands in his pockets. He found a blunt and a lighter. He smiled and lit up.

It was one in the morning when Samuel walked up the wooden front porch steps to the Mitchell/Pierce house.

He rang the doorbell twice before Eliza answered.

"Samuel. What's wrong?" she asked, pulling him inside.

She flipped a light on in the front foyer. Her blonde hair was out of it's normal bun and flowing freely down her back and she was wearing wrinkled "World's Best Mom" pajamas. Samuel dropped his duffle bag and clasped into her arms, crying.

"Samuel, what happened?" she asked, leaning him to the couch in the dark living room.

Samuel got his tears under control and told her everything.

"I have no intention of going to my grandma's." he admitted. "She lives in Cleveland. I don't want to go there. I'm gonna get a job and get an apartment of my own. I just. I can't stand living with them anymore. I'm gonna tell Tyler and see if he wants to move down to Florida with me, just like we always talked about."

"Samuel, you're talking crazy. You're just worked up. You're adrenalin is pumping. Just give it a few days. We can bring Tyler home for the weekend, you two can stay here. Talk and work something, less drastic out. Okay?" she asked.

Samuel nodded.

"Now, it's late. Let's tuck you in on the couch and I'll wake you up for school in the morning or are you going to stay home with me and Emma?" she asked.

"I think…I'll stay home. I don't want to face everybody tomorrow." He said meekly.

"Okay. Then we'll tuck you into Zack's bed. Come on." She said, putting her hand on his shoulder and picking up his duffle bags.

Eliza waited in the hall while Samuel changed into his pajamas. They were a pair of hand me downs from his brother. They were Dalton pajamas. Tyler had worn them a few times, but given them to Samuel because he didn't want them anymore. Samuel would never tell anybody, but he liked wearing his brother hand me downs now that he was gone. It made him feel closer to his brother.

"If you're not up by ten, I'm sicking Emma on you." Eliza teased, covering Samuel with Zack's blue plaid comforter.

Samuel smiled.

"There's the smile I'm looking for. I will wake you up if you aren't up by eleven though." She said, kissing his forehead. "Night, sweetie."

Samuel watched and she turned out the light and closed the door almost all the way. The bathroom light was on, illuminating the hall and sending a sliver of light seeped in through the crack in the door. Samuel liked it.

* * *

><p><em>Champagne Supernove by Oasis<em>


	18. Chapter 17

"Class, let's welcome our new family member. Lindsay Pearce." Mr. Schue said, clapping his hands. The class followed his lead. Lindsay sat down next to Damian. "Lindsay you joined at the right time. We will be taking a field trip to the Rock and Roll hall of fame in a week." Mr. Schue told his choir class.

The class cheered.

"I am passing out permission slips. It is seventy-five dollars, if you can't afford it, come talk to me after class." Mr. Schue said handing everyone two pieces of paper. "We will be staying the weekend in Cleveland. So incase anything happens, I will need your social security number, medical information such as allergies, medical conditions I would need to know about. And you will need you parents to sign these. I need them back by Friday so I can rent the bus."

The class cheered.

* * *

><p>"Mom, Dad! I'm home!" Lindsay hollered, walking into their big, two story house.<p>

"They aren't home. Dad's still working and Mom is…I think she went to Westerville…something about Blaine…I don't know. She'll be back before dinner." Ben called from the living room.

Lindsay hung her purse on her hook and walked into the living room. Ben was sitting on the couch watching X-Men.

"You are such a nerd." She said, messing up his hair and kissing the top of his head. "I'm going on a field trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with glee club next weekend."

"No fair! I want to go!" Ben yelled, spinning around, sitting on his knees.

Lindsay walked into her father's office.

"Sorry, Benny. I would love to take you. You are my favorite brother, but it's for glee club only. And you're not even in high school yet."

"I'm in the eighth grade, and I'm taking some high school classes." Ben said, staring at his big sister hopefully.

"Sorry, Ben. I'll take you this summer." She said, sitting down in her father's oversized leather chair.

She opened a desk drawer and started looking for the files she needed.

She pulled out a file labeled Lindsay and flipped it open. On top was her birth certificate. She flipped it over on the other side of the folder. Under that was a paper filing for adoption. Lindsay's heart sped up as she read it.

She grabbed her birth certificate and looked at it. The names on the birth certificate were her parents, but they signed under adoptive parents on the adoption form.

Lindsay quickly started flipping through the papers, skimming them. They were all about a teenage girl who was pregnant, all her medical record and records of her pregnancy.

She grabbed Ben and Blaine's folders, wondering if they were similar to hers. Blaine's was smaller then hers and Ben's. his was a birth certificate with their parents names and his medical records. Ben's was similar to hers except less detailed. A birth certificate with a mother's name, not father, and adoption forms with their parent's names.

"I'm home!" Her father, John called from the front foyer.

She quickly shut the folders and shoved them in the drawer. She slammed it closed and sprinted into the living room. She hurtled the back of the couch and stretched out, her bare feet in Ben's lap like she had been there all day.

"Your mom will be home soon. She's bringing Chinese since it's too late to cook." John said, walking into his office loosening his tie.

* * *

><p>"Dinner!" their mother, Nadia said walking in the front door. She kicked off her shoes and set a bag down the table.<p>

Everyone sat down at the tall chairs around the table.

"So, who wants to talk first?" Nadia asked, passing out white take out containers.

"Lindsay gets to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." Ben pouted, stabbing a chopstick into his container of chicken.

"What information do you need for that?" John asked.

"Better question is when and how much?"

Lindsay relayed the information Mr. Schue had given her.

"I'll get that for you after dinner." John said.

"I already went looking…when were you going to tell me that I'm adopted?" she asked, looking from her dad to her mom.

The two shared a look.

"Lindsay sweetie. You don't understand." Her mother tried.

"When were you going to tell Ben that he's adopted?" Lindsay asked.

Ben spit a mouth full of half chewed chicken and rice across the table. He coughed loudly, trying to catch his breath. John patted him on the back and handed him a glass of water.

"Mom, she's kidding right?" Ben asked desperately, digging his fingers into the tabletop.

John and Nadia didn't say anything; they just stared at each other, having a silent conversation with their eyes.

"Mom!" Ben screamed, slamming his palms down on the table. His glass of water fell over, soaking his shirt and pants.

"Yes. You two are adopted." Nadia said.

Ben pushed away from the table and ran out the front door, despite being barefoot and the rain pouring down.

"I'll get him." John said, tossing his napkin on to the table.

"Lindsay. We agreed with your birth mother that we would tell you at eighteen. That's what she wanted."

"Why did she give me up?" Lindsay demanded.

"She was seventeen. Too young to have a baby of her own. And her parents wouldn't have let her keep you. Her and your birth father both wanted to keep you so badly. Her mother threaded to take her to have an abortion." Nadia said, taking Lindsay's hand. "We had applied for adoption not to long after Blaine turned one."

"Blaine is two years older then me, so he knows?"

"He knows about Ben. He was too young to remember us adopting you." Nadia said. "Anyway. After I had Blaine, I learned that I have ovarian cancer and had to have my ovaries removed. I always wanted kids. You know that. So once I was healed after my surgery, we applied for adoption. We weren't being picky, but we wanted a baby. And then your birth parents came along and chose me and Daddy to be your real parents."

The front door slammed shut. Lindsay looked over. John had a soaked to the bone Ben thrown over his shoulder and was carrying him up the stairs. He was halfway up when he noticed them starring at him.

"He's fine. Just bring stubborn. I'll talk with him." John said, continuing up the stairs.

"Anyway, we were there through almost all of it, except the first four months." Nadia said. "We let them help name you. They wanted Alexis, Lexi for short. I wanted Linda. It was a nurse in the delivery ward who suggested Lindsay. We all loved you from the moment we laid eyes on you. We send them pictures of you, and we have a scrapbook filled with pictures of them. We were going to show you on your eighteenth birthday, because that's what we all figured would be best for the situation. It was the hardest thing your parents ever had to do was give you up."

"Can I see the scrapbook?" Lindsay asked.

Nadia shook her head. "When you're eighteen. I'm sorry."

Lindsay ran up to her room and threw herself on to her bed. She could hear crying coming from upstairs. She buried her face in her pillow and cried herself to sleep.

* * *

><p>"Lindsay." A small voice said, pulling her out of her slumber.<p>

Lindsay rolled over, wondering why she was still wearing her skinny jeans and blouse.

Ben was standing in her doorway in pajamas. His hair was wet and he was clutching his old teddy bear.

"Come here." She said, standing up.

Ben laid down on her bed and covered his face with his teddy bear. Lindsay quickly changed into her pajamas and laid down next to Ben. She covered them with her flower comforter and pulled him close.

"They do love us." Lindsay reassured her little brother.

Ben whined.

"Sleep Benjamin Button. We have a tough day ahead of us tomorrow." She said, stroking his wet hair.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note<em>

_I'll post a new chapter soon guys. It'll be the glee club heading to Cleveland for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Whoo!_

_Thanks_

_- Shelby_


	19. Chapter 18

_Riiinnnngggg!_

"Wait! Before you go." Mr. Schue hollered as the glee club students headed for the door.

Everybody froze.

"The charter bus will be here around five thirty, be here no later then five fifteen. I will bring donuts and juice for the ride. If you want coffee, bring it yourself." Mr. Schue said. "I don't care if you come in your pajamas or dressed but you have to be covered. The trip is three hours, feel free to bring DVD's for the trip, we'll alternate playing them. And…that's it. See you tomorrow."

The kids continued out the room.

"How am I going to get my mom to drive me to school at five on a Saturday?" Damian muttered, walking behind Cameron.

"I'm crashing at Cam's place." Samuel said. "I doubt they would mind having you sleep over too."

"Since when are you in glee club?" Lindsay asked, joining their small huddle.

"I joined yesterday after school." He said.

Lindsay nodded.

"Ellis is staying the night too. And Tyler and Zack will be home…so I don't know if it'll be okay with Mom. I'll have to check." Cameron said.

"If you need a ride, we can pick you up." Lindsay offered.

"Thanks. I'll let you know." Damian said, walking into his next class.

* * *

><p>"Mom! We're home!" Cameron hollered walking into the house with Damian, Samuel and Ellis.<p>

Samuel dropped Damian's duffle bag and pillow in the foyer and continued on into the kitchen, where the smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies was coming from. Ellis dropped her backpack, duffle bag, blanket and pillow with Damian's things.

"Are you two moving in?" Eliza joked kissing them both.

"We're just staying the night so we can bum a ride off you in the morning." Ellis said, walking into the living room.

She sat down at the desk in the back and started on her trigonometry homework.

"How's your knee feeling, Damian?" she asked as he flopped down on the couch.

"I can put some pressure on it. Still stuck on crutches for the next two weeks. But I can walk short distances without them." Damian smiled.

Eliza laughed and went back into the kitchen.

Samuel was sitting on the counter with a glass of milk in one hand and a half eaten cookie in the other. He had melted chocolate on his lips and fingers.

"Did you eat lunch?" she asked.

Samuel nodded, his mouth too full to eat.

"Have you thought about what you are going to tell Tyler when he gets here?" the mom asked, stirring a pot that sat on the stove.

He nodded apprehensively.

* * *

><p>Samuel saw disappointment and admiration in his older brother's eyes as he told him everything that had happened in the past week. Tyler stared at him for a long time once he was finished.<p>

"Are you okay?" Tyler asked.

The younger boy shrugged. "Define okay."

"Are you high?" Tyler asked, forcing his little brother to look at him.

It was impossible to see if his pupils were dilated or not in the darkness of the back porch.

"Mama Mitchell doesn't let me get high." he said, pulling away from his brother, worried he might feel the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"That's a good thing, Sam. You don't need to me high all the time."

"You were."

"I know. But I stopped. I found other things that helped me forget."

"No you got a scholarship to a fancy boarding school over an hour away and left me alone with that fucking jack ass and Mom who was too afraid to do anything to stop him from beating me!" he yelled, his voice cracking, giving away his crying.

"Sammy, you don't understand." Tyler tried, reaching for him little brother.

"No. I'm not a kid anymore. I understand perfectly. In our house it's everyman for himself." Samuel choked out. "Dad's a damn drunk who would beat us senseless. Mom was too scared of him to do anything to protect her own kids so she ran. And you. Once you got the chance to leave, you did. Not even bothering with me. Where does that leave me?"

Tyler, not being able to come up with anything to say, pulled his little brother into a hug. Samuel tried to pull away.

"Let me go!" he screamed, making his hand into a fist.

Tyler didn't let go. Samuel loosened his fist, unable to hit one of the few people he knew cared about him deep down.

"Sammy, I'm sorry I left you. I just couldn't stand it anymore." He said, tears rolling down his cheeks. "It's gonna be okay now though. I'm graduating soon. I'll get a job in Lima, we'll get an apartment and I'll take care of you."

Samuel sniffled. Tyler pulled back and held his little brother by his shoulders.

"It's you and me now, kid. We'll work something out with Eliza about you staying her e till I graduate. I'll take extra classes so I can graduate early." He explained like he was talking to a small child. "I have over five thousand dollars saved up. Once I get back we'll get an apartment. It might be hard, but I'll make it work. I swear on my life you will never have to live with Mom or Dad again."

Samuel nodded wiping his cheeks.

* * *

><p><em>Ding-ding-ding-ding<em>

"Damian." Cameron groaned, rolling over. "Damian. You're computer's going off."

The laptop sat open on the nightstand in between the two beds. A Skype request was on the screen.

"Damian!" Cameron yelled, throwing his left shoe at a lump on the other bed.

"What?" Damian said, sitting up.

"You're computer." He said flopping back down on to his pillows.

Damian hit accept and Keagan's bright smiling face filled the screen.

"What do you want Highlander?" Damian groaned.

"Turn on a light, lad. I can't see you." Keagan said.

Damian flipped on the lamp on the nightstand and closed his eyes tight, not yet used to the bright light.

"It's barely one in the morning. What could you possibly want?"

"I talked to Brooke." The boy sang. "You look like shit."

"Thanks. That means so much coming from you."

"I'm serious. Look at yourself. You don't look too good."

Damian opened his eyes and looked in the lower corner of the screen. His black hair was in desperate need of a hair cut and sticking up at odd angles. He had dried blood under his nose that he never bother to wash off after he limped into a door before he went to bed. His blood shot eyes had dark circles around them.

"Did you get in a fight?"

"Rough few days. Now what about Brooke?"

"She loves you, Damo." Keagan said.

"Seriously?"

"Well…she did…does…she doesn't really know. So I don't really know. So you don't really know. I talked to her she said that some pretty important things went down a few nights before you left for America…she wouldn't tell me…what happened?"

"I have to be up early in the morning. I'll talk to you later."

"That bad?" Keagan laughed.

"Worse." Damian said, turning his computer off.

He dropped his laptop on the floor and turned the lights off. He fell face first into his pillows and groaned.

"What happened with you and Brooke?" Cameron asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

Damian said something but his words were muffled.

"Say again. I can't hear you." Cameron said.

Damian pushed himself up and took a deep breath.

"Okay. A few days before I knew I was moving…me and Brooke…" he trailed off.

"You and Brooke." The blonde urged.

"We had sex. Made love. Fucked. Any word you want to use. We did it. A lot…she wanted to go another round but we were out of condoms and I told her I didn't want to get her pregnant yet. That I was going to wait until we were married." Damian rubbed his eyes, remembering the day like it was yesterday. "I promised her that I would marry her someday and that we would make blue eyed babies together. But a few days later my parents divorced was finalized and Mum told me that we were moving in less then a week. I told Brooke and she freaked out. She cried and smacked me. I never say goodbye to her."

He dropped on to his pillows and groaned loudly.

* * *

><p>"It's to early." Damian groaned limping down the stairs.<p>

"Where are your crutches?" Eliza asked, helping Damian into a chair.

"Brittany took them." Cameron said from the couch.

Ellis and Samuel stumbled up the basement stairs still in their pajamas.

"Does anyone want anything to eat?" Eliza asked.

All she got was groans in response.

"I put snacks in each of your bags." She said as Brittany came into the front foyer on Damian's crutches. "Brittany. Give Damian his crutches. Let's get to the car kids."

The kids piled into Eliza's mini van. None of them complained when she turned the radio on to a love song station, like they normally did.

"How did everybody sleep?" Eliza asked perkily.

"Like shit." Damian muttered from the very back.

"I didn't." Samuel groaned from the middle row.

"Your basement couch is very uncomfortable." Ellis moaned from beside Samuel.

"Damian snores." Cameron said from beside Damian.

"Well. That's not good. But, you can all sleep on the bus once it gets here. Now get out. I have things to do." Eliza said, parking the van.

Everybody stumbled out and grabbed their things from the trunk. Samuel and Cameron were carrying Damian's things for him, even though Damian insisted he could carry them himself.

Damian sat down on the front steps next to McKynleigh. She scoffed and moved away. Cameron took her place. Ellis went to talk to McKynleigh.

"What did I do?" Damian asked resting his head on Cameron's shoulder.

Cameron's hear sped up. "She likes or liked you…until you said you were only interested in Brooke."

"Girls are so complicated." He yawned.

* * *

><p>"Hi Sam." Marissa smiled sitting down next to him.<p>

She was wearing a purple sweat suit and green Converse sneakers. Her hair was pulled into two pigtails down her back and she wasn't wearing any make up. Samuel still thought she looked beautiful.

"Hey." He said, not feel up for sounding happy, even around her.

"What's wrong?" she asked sounding truly concerned.

She sat down really close to him, their legs touching. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

Samuel wished he would have worn at least clean pajamas instead of his old, Dalton hand me downs from Tyler.

"I like your pajamas." She said, running her fingers over the soft material on his thigh.

Samuel felt a rush of heat to his cheeks.

"So, what's wrong?" she asked leaving her hand on his thigh.

"Family issues." He said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I…don't really want to get into it right now."

"Okay. We can talk later." She sighed, snuggling into him.

* * *

><p>"Hey love birds." Lindsay giggled walking up to Cameron and Damian.<p>

Damian groaned in confusion.

"You too look really cute. Damian asleep on Cam's shoulder." Lindsay said sitting down on the step above them.

"Cam's a good friend. I love him." Damian said.

Cameron was thankful that that sun was just staring to come up, the darkness hid his blushing cheeks really well.

"Well that's so sweet." Lindsay said tussling Damian's hair.

* * *

><p><em>Author's note<em>

_I can't remember if I had Marissa in glee club or not. I don't think so. Let's just say she joined at the same time as Samuel. Okay?_

_I'm just curious. I know a lot of you read my other stories, which ones do you want me to update more often? I don't know which ones y'all like best or what, I just need to know so I can update them more often for you._


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